Name of the Mine
Minas-Rio System mine.

Location  
Conceição do Mato Dentro and Alvorada de Minas, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Mine Owner/s  
Anglo American Minério de Ferro Brasil (Anglo American Brasil), in which Vale has a 15% shareholding.

Brief Description  
The Minas-Rio deposit comprises the Serra do Sapo operation and the Itapanhoacanga project. The operation includes an openpit, a beneficiation plant, a 529 km slurry pipeline, a filtering plant and an export terminal at the Port of Açu.

Brief History  
Production started at the operation in 2014.

Primary Metals/Minerals  
Friable itabirite and hematite ore types.

Secondary Metals/Minerals  
None stated.

Geology/Mineralisation  
The Minas-Rio deposit is hosted in a Proterozoic metasedimentary sequence in the Serra do Espinhaço belt. 

The main iron-bearing lithologies are concentrated in a unit of the Serra do Sapo formation, within a large banded-iron formation package. 

Mineralisation is related to the oxide facies of the banded-iron formation, which is known as itabirite. The oxide facies are characterised by millimetre-thick banded layers, rich in white quartz with alternating layers rich in specularite, haematite and locally magnetite, with colour ranging from dark grey to dark red. 

Depending on the weathering intensity, iron-bearing lithologies are physically classified as friable itabirite, semifriable itabirite and itabirite. The grade range for material classified as itabirite is between 25% and 60% iron. 

Iron grades higher than 60% are defined as haematite. Depending on the alumina and phosphorous grades, it is further separated into high alumina itabirite, mineralised canga or waste. The friable itabirite is totally disaggregated with quartz and lamellar/granular haematite being completely liberated. It is often located at the top of the sequence, close to the surface and strongly weathered with increased iron grade. 

Semifriable itabirite is a partially decomposed rock and disaggregates when struck with a hammer; it is a transition between friable and unweathered rock. Normally, it occurs at the base of friable itabirite or with lenses interlayered in friable or unweathered itabirites. 

Itabirite represents the fresh rock, with a dark grey banded aspect and a fine grain size. It is unweathered, mostly with a pervasive schistosity and tectonic banding composed of quartz and dark grey metallic haematite, with rare concentrations of massive haematite. In the southern portion of Serra do Sapo, the itabirite has an average thickness of about 60 m, and thicknesses up to 220 m are encountered in the central to northern areas.

Reserves  
As at December 31, 2024, the Serra do Sapo operation has total friable itabirite and haematite proven and probable reserves of 1.05-billion tonnes grading 37% iron and itabirite reserves of 2.27-billion tonnes grading 30.9%.

Resources  
Total measured and indicated friable itabirite and haematite resources for Sera do Sapo as at December 31, 2024, were estimated at 268.1-million tonnes grading 33% iron. Inferred resources were estimated 41.5-million tonnes grading 36.1% iron.

Measured and indicated Itabirite resources were estimated at 1.38-billion tonnes grading 31%. Inferred resources were measured at 363.6-million tonnes grading 31% iron. 

Type of Mine
Openpit.

Mining Method  
Conventional openpit.

Major Infrastructure/Equipment  
The mine comprises shovels, loaders and trucks, mobile equipment system transport and a beneficiation plant.

The beneficiation plant on site processes the run-of-mine using standard crushing, milling and concentration steps, producing pellet feed. 

The Minas-Rio mine has its own pellet plant using a pipeline with two pumpstations and one valve station. This pellet feed is transported through a 529-km-long slurry pipeline that passes through 32 municipal districts to connect to the Port of Açu. Production is shipped through an export terminal at the Port of Açu, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. 

Electricity is acquired from regional utility companies or produced directly by Anglo American.

Prospects  
Anglo American completed the transaction to integrate Vale’s premium quality Serpentina iron-ore resource into Minas-Rio in December 2024. With a strike length more than double that of Minas-Rio's, Serpentina provides a high-value option to double Minas-Rio’s production of premium iron-ore by the mid-2030s, with meaningful operational and logistics synergies.

Contact Details 
Anglo American
Tel +44 20 7968 8888
Email imprensaangloamerican@oficina.ci
Website https://www.angloamerican.com/