Vale announces investments of R$70 billion in the Novo Carajás programme

The launch will take place at a ceremony with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, during a visit to Vale's operations in the municipality of Parauapebas (PA). The programme foresees investments of R$70 billion over five years (2025 – 2030), in line with the company's guidance, in the Carajás region, a province rich in minerals essential for decarbonisation and the global energy transition.

The programme brings together Carajás' mining expansion potential, including mines in operation, expansions, and new targets, to boost the processing of critical minerals to produce green steel (high quality iron ore) and metal for energy transition (copper), which are fundamental for reducing carbon emissions. Iron ore production in Carajás is expected to reach a rate of 200 million t/y by 2030, from the additional 20 Mt, with the expansion of the Serra Sul mine (S11D) and the replacement of production of depleting mines. Copper is expected to grow 32%, bringing production in the region to around 350 000 t.

Vale's CEO, Gustavo Pimenta, says:

“Carajás is a successful case of a public-private partnership aimed at protecting the forest where we produce, with dry mining processes and innovative technologies, around 60% of the ore that Brazil exports.

“The Novo Carajás Programme brings gains for Brazil, with the potential to position the country as a global leader in the supply of critical minerals, and to strengthen its role in fighting climate change; for Vale, it expands a business front that generates value and leverages strategic market opportunities for the company in an economy based on the low-carbon industry.”

Fulfilling Vale's vocation as an anchor of regional development, Novo Carajás will boost Pará’s growth with a new cycle of investment in sustainable mining of high-quality iron ore and critical minerals in the state, as well as technology, sustainability, health and safety, and maintenance of equipment and operations. The programme will make a significant contribution to Pará state's GDP, in the range of R$80 – R$100 billion per year. The programme's future production will allow for an increase of R$15 billion in the state's exports from current levels.

In recent years, Vale has intensified its focus on actions related to the energy transition and decarbonisation: from the production of high quality iron ore, which increases the efficiency of blast furnaces and reduces emissions from steel mills, through the supply of nickel and copper, essential for the production of electric cars, to the development of innovative products such as briquettes, which reduce emissions in the steel industry by up to 10%.

The company has also invested in circular mining, such as the Gelado project in Carajás. By 2030, Vale expects 10% of its total iron ore production to come from circular mining products. Gelado, with a production of 6 million t/y resulting from the reuse of tailings, will play a key role in this goal towards tailings-free mining and products with a low carbon footprint.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/18022025/vale-announces-investments-of-r70-billion-in-the-novo-carajs-programme/