Economy & Business - March 2025

BRAZIL | Vale invests in Amazon-based operations. Brazilian mining giant Vale on 14 February announced a R$70bn (US$12.3bn) investment to recover iron ore production and increase copper production at its Carajás mining complex in the state of Pará, in the Amazon region. The investment, to be made over five years to 2030, aims to boost Vale’s output of critical minerals needed in the energy transition (high-quality iron ore is an input for manufacturing low-emissions green steel, while copper is a key component in electrical infrastructure such as wiring and batteries). Iron ore production at Carajás is projected to reach 200m tonnes (t) per year by 2030, thanks to an additional 20m t per year expected with the expansion of the Serra Sul mine, while copper production in the region is to increase 32% to 350,000 t per year, Vale said. The investment announcement came shortly before Vale’s annual financial results were published. These showed the mining company registering a net profit of US$6.17bn in 2024, down 23% on a year earlier, with a loss of US$694m in the fourth quarter driven by its operations in Canada.

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