- Vale, Brazil’s largest mining company, has announced conditional interest in critical minerals and raw earths. The company says it faces weakening demand for its core iron ore offering and is “repositioning” towards metals needed for the energy transition including copper, nickel, lithium, and rare earths. The company has a US$14bn investment programme for the 2025-2030 period and aims in that time to achieve 20%+ growth in mineral resources. It says it will focus on nickel (for electric vehicles), copper (for electrification), and cobalt (as a by-product).
Vale is not for the moment prioritising lithium or rare earths but is investing indirectly. Along with investment bank BNDES it holds a 25% stake in Brazil’s Strategic Minerals Investment Fund which is focused on lithium and REEs. Vale is broadly aligning itself with Brazilian government policy for rare earths which favours increasing production, building domestic processing capacity, and reducing reliance on imports. Although plans are at an early stage, Vale could play an important role in building integrated supply chains and closely linking mining to refining operations. Company officials say they want to avoid a short-term rush into rare earths. A longer term and somewhat more cautious approach is required they say, because rare earths involve complex metallurgy, very high capital expenditure, and long timelines.
End of preview - This article contains approximately 898 words.
Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article
Not a Subscriber?
Choose from one of the following options
