Aluminum Copper Lead

Vale resumes pellet production at Vargem Grande mine

Brazil iron ore miner Vale SA said on Thursday it has resumed pellet production at its Vargem Grande mine in Minas Gerais state, where production had been paralyzed since Feb. 2019.

Vale said in a statement the mine has a capacity to produce 7 million tonnes of pellets per year, but it forecast that production in 2021 would range between 4 and 5 million tonnes.

The Vargem Grande mine is located in the same state as Brumadinho, the site of a dam operated by Vale that burst in Jan. 2019 and killed 270 people.