Vale takes the brunt of anger over mine tragedy

Rio de Janeiro

WITHIN hours of a deadly mining spill in November that would become Brazil's worst environmental disaster, BHP Billiton chief executive officer Andrew Mackenzie was in front of a camera offering his sympathies to those affected.

Meanwhile, his counterpart at joint-venture partner Vale SA, Murilo Ferreira, took nearly a week after the mine wastewater flood to talk to the press, setting the tone for a media strategy specialists say has been slow and clumsy.

While both companies' legal strategies seem similarly aimed at limiting their direct liability for the dam collapse that caused …