TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The world’s biggest iron-ore miner, Vale, reaped a record $6.4-billion in net earnings for the second quarter, a 74% rise on the same period in 2010, and announced a $3-billion share buyback and an equal sum in dividends on Thursday.

The buyback and distribution follow the miner’s June decision to abandon a $1.1-billion bid for JSE-listed Metorex.

Soaring iron-ore prices set the scene for Vale to report $15.3-billion in revenues for the three months to June, which was 74% higher year-on-year, and the firm said it expected demand and prices to remain buoyant.

“Despite the risks ahead, we expect global industrial production to resume higher growth, thus contributing to a stronger demand for minerals and metals. For the medium and long term the strong fundamentals for their markets remain intact,” the company said in a statement.

Sales of iron ore and pellets for the June quarter reached 72.9-million tons, a 7.1% rise on the figure for the first quarter of the year.

Iron-ore made up for $11.2-billion, or about 75%, of Vale’s total revenues.

In March, Murilo Ferreira replaced Roger Agnelli as CEO of what is the world's second-biggest mining company by market capitalisation.

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