[ferro-alloys.com]Mining heavyweight BHP said on Thursday the Federal Court of Minas Gerais approved an agreement with Brazilian authorities which settles a 20 billion reais ($5.30 billion) lawsuit regarding the Samarco dam failure.

The company said it had separately agreed to pay $50 million as part of a settlement for a class action complaint filed by American depositary receipt holders over the disaster.

Samarco and parent companies Vale SA and BHP had signed a deal with Brazilian authorities in June regarding the 2015 dam failure.

Brazil's worst environmental catastrophe killed 19 people. It happened when a dam designed to hold back mine waste burst, leaving a trail of destruction for hundreds of kilometres.

BHP still faces a class action in Australia over the dam failure.

Samarco said on Wednesday it expects to obtain all licenses needed to resume operations by next year.

• [Editor:王可]