Mining Business
Iron Ore: Vale is the world leader in the iron ore and pellets market. The company which produced around 90 million tonnes in the mid 90s is now producing over 350 million tonnes of iron ore and pellets. This means that Vale produces over 60% of all the iron in Brazil and around 15% of all the iron in the world. Brazil has one of the largest iron ore reserves in the world, the mineral that is the most produced and consumed in the world.
Manganese and Alloys: In 1999, Vale incorporated the manganese and alloy business into its structure. Consolidated as the second largest manganese producer in the world, Vale annually produces close to 2.3 million tons of manganese ore and 500,000 tons of manganese alloys.
Nickel: Vale has become the world’s largest producer of nickel, with a production of 250,600 tons. Found in nature in association with iron and sulphur, nickel is a transition element that presents ferrous and non-ferrous metal properties such as resistance to corrosion, alloy formation, ductility and electro-coating settlement among others. By virtue of this characteristic to confer properties to the more noble metallic steels, nickel is demanded mainly by the metallurgical sector, and 63% of such demand is destined to the production of stainless steel.
Copper: Vale's copper production began in the first half of 2004, with the start-up of the Sossego Mine, whose average installed capacity is 140 thousand tons per year of copper in concentrate. The start-up of the copper cathode production plant with extraction by solvent and electrowinning - Project 118 - is estimated for the beginning of 2007. This project will have an installed capacity of 45 thousand tons/year of copper cathodes. Other projects such as Salobo (in feasibility studie) and others under intensive geological survey works in the Carajás region, in Chile and in Peru. In 2006, the consolidation of Vale Inco also increased the total sale of concentrated copper, which amounted to 169 thousand tons. Today, Vale is producing roughly 250 thousand tons of Copper every year. Vale has also entered into an agreement with African Rainbow Minerals to build a copper mine in Zambia.
Coal: Vale is present in Venezuela, Australia, South Africa, Mozambique and Angola with offices, ore search works and development of new businesses of coal. Currently it has minority stakes on Chinese coal producers, such as Longyu and Shandong Yankuang International Coking Co. Meanwhile, its major project, Moatize, in Mozambique, estimated to produce 14 million ton of metallurgic and energetic coal for 70 years is in economical feasibility study. With AMCI acquisition, Vale added to its coal portfolio the underground coal deposit in Belvedere, Queensland State, Australia, with estimated resources of 2,7 billion of ton.
Potash: Vale produces potash at The Taquari-Vassouras Operational Unit, an underground mine with a treatment plant on the surface. “Taquari-Vassouras” is the name of the ore deposit. This unit is the single manufacturer of potassium chloride (KCl) in activity in Brazil. Potassium Chloride is an important component for the manufacture of fertilizers, and it is obtained through the underground mine of sylvite and later on improved by the flotation process. Presently all production is for domestic market and assure 13% of the Brazilian demand for the product. Since 1992 production comprised 24.7 million tonnes of ROM with an average grade of 31.80 percent KCl, containing a total of 7.8 million tonnes of KCl.
Kaolin: a fine White aluminium silicate used as a coating agent, filler, extender and absorbent in the paper, ceramics and pharmaceutical industries. Despite being abundantly found in nature, its commercial reserves are restricted to Brazil, United Kingdom and the US. At 2006, Vale shipped 1.323 million tons, a volume 8.6% higher than that sold in 2005.
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