Diversified mining giant Vale – the world’s number two mining group, with a market capitalisation of some $145-billion (number one being BHP Billiton) – has revealed that it is expanding its research and development (R&D) and skills development capabilities extensively.

The miner is to spend about 400-million Brazilian reais (roughly R1,6-billion) over the next four years to create the Vale Technology Institute (Instituto Tecnológico Vale – ITV), which will have three research centres located in different states in Brazil.

Of this sum, 300-million reais will be devoted to the construction, equipping and staffing of the research centres. Each centre will be dedicated to a specific area of study – one will focus on sustainable development, another on mining, and the third on energy.

“Vale, as a mining company, has a perspective for the next 100 years,” explains ITV director Dr Luiz Mello. “If we want to have economic activity with predict- ability of this magnitude, we must plan this future.”

The ITV is explicity inspired by US institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, founded in 1865, and whose researchers have so far won 73 Nobel prizes). Indeed, Vale is entering into an agreement with the renowned US institution that will allow exchanges between the staff and students of the ITV and the MIT.

The first of the ITV’s research centres, now under construction, will focus on sustainable development and is located in the city of Belém, in the state of Pará, in the poor and undeveloped north-east of Brazil. “The idea is that Vale will contribute [in terms of] the local production of knowledge,” states Pará state Secretary for Development and Technology Maurílio Monteiro. “Our major challenge is to attract and retain brains for the region.”

The second research centre will focus on mining and will be in the city of Ouro Preto, in the state of Minais Gerais, which is the traditional centre of mining in Brazil (‘Minais Gerais’ means General Mines, while ‘Ouro Preto’ translates as Black Gold). This centre will be situated some 3 km from the historic centre of Ouro Preto, which has been designated by Unesco as part of the cultural patrimony of humanity. Consequently, construction can only start once approval is granted by Brazil’s National Artistic and Historical Patrimony Institute. However, it is expected to start operations in 2012.

The third research centre will specialise in research into energy, and will be situated in São Paulo state, in the city of São José dos Campos. São José dos Campos is the centre of the Brazilian aerospace industry and, argu- ably, the country’s most important high-technology hub.

Staff selection for the ITV will be done internationally. “It is a chance to repatriate Brazilian brains who, for lack of opportunities here, made their careers abroad, and to bring foreigners [here] who believe in the growth of Brazil,” elucidates Mello.

The plan is that each research centre will have a staff of some 50 PhDs and postdoctorates and up to 160 BSc, MSc and PhD students, who will be funded by bursaries and grants. Vale has budgeted 72-million reais (about R288-million) and the three states’ research funding agencies a combined 48-million reais (some R192-million) for a total of 120-million reais (roughly R480-million) for these bursaries and grants. The students will be selected by the three state research funding agencies.

Vale’s creation of the ITV is a new development in Brazil in terms of its scale and ambition. The company will inform the ITV of its desired research prio- rities, but the final decision on which research projects are undertaken will be made by scientific directorates of each of the state research funding agencies. The ITV also intends to cooperate with Brazilian universities. For example, Vale is funding new laboratories at the Federal University of Ouro Preto that will also serve the ITV. (Brazil has federal, state, city and private universities.)

The creation of the ITV requires a change in mindset on the part of both company executives and Brazilian aca- demics. “There is a ditch (divide) – we’ve had resistence from both sides,” reports Mello. “In other countries, such as the US, the necessity for institutions such as the ITV is very clear. Here, it’s still not.”

Mello has a postdoctoral degree in neurophysiology from the University of California and was a deputy vice chancellor at the Federal University of São Paulo before being recruited by Vale to create and head the ITV.

To subscribe to Mining Weekly's print magazine email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or buy now.