Vale's Iron Ore Project Under Way in Brazil

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Brazilian miner Vale (NYSE:RIO) (Rio de Janeiro) is advancing its Apolo iron ore project in Brazil's famous Iron Quadrangle, located near the cities of Caete and Santa Barbara in the state of Minas Gerais,

The project, previously named Maquine-Bau, will require an investment of $2.2 billion in order to excavate an open-pit mine and construct a processing plant to produce about 24 million tons of iron ore per year. In addition, the company will build a 25-kilometer railway to transport the ore. Minerconsult Engenharia (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) is performing basic engineering for the project. Apolo is currently under evaluation by the company's board of directors. A decision whether to move forward with the project is expected in the coming months. Upon approval, the company will select an engineering firm and general contractor. Construction is expected to start in May 2010, with project completion scheduled for October 2012.

With the recent acquisition of Mineracao Apolo for $145 million by Vale in 2008, Apolo will increase the company's iron ore reserves to about 1 billion tons in the Iron Quadrangle.

Vale is the world's largest iron ore producer and is currently developing a wide portfolio of projects located in Brazil, Peru, Chile, Canada, Australia, Indonesia, New Caledonia, Mozambique and Oman.

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