Brazilian miner Vale will resume operations at its Serra Leste mine in Pará, Brazil by the end of this year. The firm plans to raise the output from the current 6mn mt per year to 10mn mt per year by 2023.
The company also plans on commissioning the Torto dam at its Brucutu mine in Q2 2021, increasing the site’s capacity to 28mn mt per year from the current 11mn mt per year, Vale said in its earnings results on Oct 20. Vale is to increase production capacity at its Timpopeba open-pit mine to 12mn mt per year from the current 4mn mt per year in the first quarter of 2021.
Vale has anticipated an annual iron ore capacity of 400mn mt by intensifying production from all of its operations. Of the 318mn mt current annual production capacity, the group has produced 223mn mt of iron ore in the first nine months.
Production
Vale’s iron ore production increased by 2.3pc to 88.6mn mt in Q3 2020, from 86.7mn mt in the prior-year period, while pellet output fell by 23.1pc to 8.5mn mt over 11.1mn mt in the same period under comparison. The company’s nickel production in Q3 2020 decreased by 8.4pc to 47,100mt, from 51,400mt in the prior-year period. Copper production also fell by 11.2pc to 87,600mt in Q3 2020, from 98,700mt in Q3 2019.
Sales
The miner’s iron ore sales in the third quarter fell by 11.2pc to 65.7mn mt, from 74mn mt in Q3 2019. Pellet sales also decreased by 23.6pc to 8.4mn mt in Q3 2020, from 11mn mt, copper also declined by 12.4pc to 80,600mt, from 92,000mt recorded in the same period under comparison. Nickel sold rose by 14.3pc to 58,200mt in the same period.