Brazilian mining company Vale will spend $10bn (48.63bn reais) over the next ten years to keep its Canada operations running. Vale values its Canada operations for its low-carbon production.
The spending is part of a $30bn package the company is spending evenly across Canada, Brazil and Indonesia.
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Emily Olson, Vale’s chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer, said: “There is a lot more to do with our existing operations and that is where we would invest. In terms of being greenfields, not right now.”
Mark Cutifani, chairman of Vale Base Metals, is conducting asset reviews across operations in Ontario, Manitoba and Newfoundland.
Olson added that Vale may soon have an announcement on the Bécancour nickel sulphide processing project, through which it will supply 25,000 tonnes of nickel a year to General Motors (GM) as part of a deal that could be worth C$762m ($570m) a year. GM will use the nickel in Ultium battery cathodes to power its portfolio of electric vehicles. When the deal was announced in 2022, Vale said it planned to start nickel sulphate deliveries from its proposed plant from the second half of 2026.
“There is just a clarity and a certainty in regulation, and Canada is a mining country and with that comes a lower risk, and equally you have the wonderful benefit of renewable and clean power,” said Olson. “Canada has a great opportunity to further establish itself as a leader in our industry with community and indigenous rights leaders.”
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By GlobalDataVale has a stock market value of around $68bn, indicating its position as one of the world’s largest producers of nickel, copper and cobalt. Saudi state-owned Manara Minerals and San Francisco-based investment firm Engine No.1 bought 10% of Vale’s base metals unit in July for $3.4bn.
In the next few weeks, Vale is set to sell 14% of its business in Indonesia to comply with foreign ownership rules.
