Friday, February 23, 2024

Vale sees no indication of environmental breach at suspended mines

Reuters | February 23, 2024

The Onça Puma plant produces mainly ferronickel. (Image: Agência Vale)

Brazilian miner Vale sees no indication of any environmental or social breach at two of its mines in Para state that had their operating licences 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 that the suspensions could have happened due to an administrative issue, adding that “if anything’s wrong, it will be corrected”.

The environmental secretary of Para state in northern Brazil suspended environmental licences for Vale’s Onca Puma nickel mine and Sossego copper mine earlier this week.

The secretary said the suspension was caused by irregularities with an annual environment report, as well as “non-compliance with actions to mitigate impacts from mining activities, resulting in conflicts with communities close to the area of influence of the projects”.

Cutifani said the furnace in Onca Puma had already been shut down and maintenance was scheduled for Sossego soon, adding that Vale would “work to resolve these issues quickly and appropriately with the authorities”.

(By Peter Frontini; Editing by Gabriel Araujo and Jan Harvey)



Vale’s fourth-quarter profit falls 35% on higher provisions over dam accident

Reuters | February 22, 2024 | 

Rio Doce River. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Brazilian miner Vale reported on Thursday a 35% drop in fourth quarter net profit, missing analyst expectations by almost half, following higher provisions related to its Samarco joint venture and more taxable income.


Vale, one of the world’s largest iron ore producers, reported a $2.42 billion net profit for the quarter ended in December, compared to $4.15 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG.

Vale’s bottom line took a hit from $1.2 billion tacked on to its provision related to the 2015 collapse of a tailings dam, which caused a giant mudslide that killed 19 people and severely polluted the Rio Doce river.

The total provision now stands at $4.21 billion, up 40% from the third quarter.

BHP, Vale’s partner in the Samarco joint venture that owned the dam, said last week it would record another $3.2 billion impairment related to the case.

Other results tracked analyst expectations. Recurring adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grew 37% in the quarter, and sales revenue rose more than 9%.

Analysts at RBC Europe Limited said they anticipated a positive response, noting that Vale’s guidance remains unchanged and free cash flow beat its expectations.

Also on Thursday, Vale said its board approved a payout to shareholders of about $0.55 per share.

Over the quarter, the miner said its iron ore prices had averaged $118.30 per metric ton, up from the $95.60 per ton in the year-earlier quarter.

Vale boosted investments by about a fifth from October to December compared to the same period a year before, spending $2.1 billion in projects focused on iron ore as well as energy transition metals such as nickel and copper.

Vale’s earnings come amid uncertainty over succession at the helm of the company, with its board divided between re-electing current chief executive Eduardo Bartolomeo and choosing a new name.

As well, Vale this week said its operating licenses at two mines were suspended by environmental authorities, which RBC Europe Limited said could pose “risks around operational continuity.”

(By Andre Romani, Peter Frontini, Marta Nogeuira and Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Anthony Esposito and Michael Perry)

Vale says its Sossego copper mine operating license has been suspended

Reuters | February 21, 2024 | 

Salobo copper mine. Credit: Vale SA

Brazilian miner Vale said on Wednesday it had received a letter from the State of Para’s environmental secretary informing it that its operating license for its Sossego mine has been suspended.


The company said in a filing it was evaluating the necessary measures to re-establish the full validity of the mine’s operating license.

Vale, which did not give details of the reason for the suspension in the filing, said it complies with conditions and socio-environmental controls of its activity.

Vale produced 66,800 metric tons of copper in 2023 in Sossego, its second largest mine of copper in output terms, only behind Salobo, also located in Para.

Para’s environment secretary did not immediately respond to request for comments sent outside normal business hours.

(By Steven Grattan and Andre Romani; Editing by Chris Reese and Sandra Maler)




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