SYDNEY (Reuters) - BHP Billiton (>> BHP Billiton Limited) (>> BHP Billiton Plc) and Vale SA (>> Vale SA) have been granted an extension until Nov. 16 by a Brazilian court to negotiate a settlement on a $47 billion (35.59 billion pounds) claim stemming from the Samarco mine disaster in 2015, BHP said on Tuesday.

Brazilian federal prosecutors in May last year served the joint partners in the Samarco iron ore mine with a 155 billion Brazilian real claim to pay for the social, environmental and economic costs of cleaning up the country’s worst environmental disaster.

A settlement date of Oct. 30 was set by the court earlier this year after the parties failed to reach an agreement by a previous deadline of June 30.

Nineteen people died and nearby towns were flooded after a dam designed to hold back mine waste burst on Nov. 5, 2015.

(Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Sam Holmes)

Stocks treated in this article : BHP Billiton Plc, BHP Billiton Limited, Vale SA