Brazil's mining giant Vale will appeal the hold a judge put on its assets and those of BHP Billiton to make sure they pay reparations for the toxic waste dam burst that killed 17.

The Brazilian and Anglo-Australian mining companies are joint owners of Samarco, a firm that operated an iron ore tailings dam that burst in Minas Gerais state on November 5.

Considered Brazil's worst ever environmental disaster, the accident unleashed a tsunami of toxic waste that buried a nearby village, then rushed into the Doce, Brazil's second most important river, ravaging flora and fauna for some 800 kilometers.

The sludge reached the Atlantic 17 days later, where it soiled beaches and damaged sea life.

Brazil plans to sue Vale and BHP Billiton for $5.2 billion for clean-up costs and damages relating to the disaster.

In a ruling Friday, a Minas Gerais judge said that Samarco did not have enough money for the full cleanup and compensation, but that the parent companies could be held responsible.

In a statement issued in response, Vale, Brazil's top exporter, said it "will appeal the court order which it considers baseless, and will reply to the legal motion within the timeframe stipulated by law."

It will take at least a decade for conditions to return to normal in the river basin, Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira has said.