Vale sees no sign of environmental breach at suspended mines
SAO PAULO - Brazilian miner Vale does not see signs of environmental or social breach at two of its mines whose operating licenses were suspended this week, Vale Base Metals chair Mark Cutifani said on Friday.
Speaking at a conference call about the miner's fourth-quarter results, the executive said an administrative issue could have led to the suspensions at the mines in Para state in northern Brazil, and that Vale would work with authorities to resolve the matter.
The environmental secretary of Para state suspended environmental licenses for Vale's Onca Puma nickel mine and Sossego copper mine this week, flagging irregularities with an annual environment report and "non-compliance" on mining mitigation efforts that it said resulted in conflicts with local communities.
Cutifani noted the furnace in Onca Puma had already been shut down and maintenance was scheduled for Sossego soon.
Vale shares rose as much as 2.75% on Friday, a day after the company reported a 35% drop in fourth-quarter net profit due to more taxable income and a higher provision tied to a 2015 dam collapse in the Samarco joint venture with BHP.
Vale executives told analysts the company expected to reach an agreement with authorities over the case in the first half of the year. The company's provision now stands at $4.21-billion.
"There has been some progress recently," said Chief Financial Officer Gustavo Pimenta.
Vale also said it plans to increase iron ore sales this year outside China, with demand expected to increase in Japan, Europe, India and Southeast Asia as supply tightens globally.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation