Congo frees most of Chinese men held for illegal mining
The Chinese miners allegedly owed $10 million in unpaid taxes and fines to the government.
Vale is in the midst of building its huge new S11D iron ore mine in the Amazon, which is an extension of its giant Carajás complex and the largest project in the company’s history.
Brazil’s Vale (NYSE:VALE), the world’s top iron ore miner, said Thursday it produced 85.3 million tonnes of its own iron ore from March to June, or 7.4% more than the same period last year, making it the second highest quarterly production ever for the firm.
On top of its own production, the company purchased 4.02 million tonnes of iron ore from third parties.
With the output hike, the Rio de Janeiro-based company keeps up the pressure on Australian rivals BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) in the battle for market share in the global seaborne iron ore trade.
The company, also the world’s largest nickel producer, generated 67,100 tonnes of the industrial metal and 2.01 million tonnes of coal in the quarter, said in a statement.
“This was generally a strong operating quarter from Vale with the company continuing to do a good job ‘controlling what it can control’,” Citi analysts wrote in a note to clients.
Shares of Vale gained 2.3% to 14.55 reais at 11:38 a.m. in Sao Paulo Thursday, rebounding from the lowest level in more than a decade reached on Wednesday. But the stock was still trading 1.48% lower to$5.31 in New York at 11:38AM EDT.
