The biggest environmental disaster happened 5 years ago and many workers were killed due to the collapse of the Samarco dam.

A British judge struck out a 5 billion pound English lawsuit against BHP by a Brazilian claimant group last month due to the damages from the Fundao dam disaster.

Now the Samarco joint venture began the iron ore pellets at complexes in Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo under the permission of the local authorities. Samarco planned to produce around 8 million tons of iron ore pellets yearly.

BHP and Brazilian miner Vale own 50% stakes in Samarco.