Promoting the circular economy 

The circular economy is replacing the current linear model of extraction, production and disposal. More than ensuring the recycling of materials at the end of their useful life, the concept involves rethinking how products are designed, manufactured and marketed, aimed at generating less waste throughout the life cycle, increasing durability and reuse for other purposes.  

In this context, extending these economic principles, Circular Mining is considered a key pillar in Vale's long-term strategy. Circularity in mining is essential for improved use of mineral resources, and key to overcoming waste management challenges, transforming them into significant opportunities for creating and sharing value. 

Vale Circular Mining Program – Waste to Value 

To consolidate the circularity of Vale operations, the Circular Mining Program - Waste to Value - was created, focused initially on the generation of new products from mining, encompassing also the reprocessing of tailings and reduction of waste rock. Through investment in innovation and an emphasis on sustainability, the aim is to expand ore extraction from existing stockpiles and dams, optimize mineral processing to reduce tailings and waste, and develop and maintain co-product generation initiatives. 

The Program will enable Vale, by 2035, to establish a global iron ore operation characterized by zero waste and zero tailings and carbon neutral circular mining, reinforcing the circularity of the value chain. 

The Program has already identified more than 150 Circular Mining initiatives, several already under way, showing how circularity is a practical reality in Vale operations. By 2024, we will have produced more than 12 million tons of iron ore from circular sources, and we have made a commitment that, by 2030, 10% of our annual iron ore production will come from circular mining. 

Circular Mining Initiatives  

Gelado Project 

In March 2023, in Carajás (PA), the Gelado Project began operational tests. The objective is to produce more than 80 million tons of high-quality pellet feed, with 63% iron content, using innovative technologies, taking advantage of tailings that have accumulated in the dam since the beginning of its operation. 

At the plant, the ore is subjected to a magnetic concentration process, by which a powerful magnet separates the iron particles from the silica and alumina, further increasing its quality. This is the first time that magnetic concentration has been used in operations in Pará. 

The resulting product feeds Vale's pelletizing plant in São Luís (MA). Due to the high quality of the pellets manufactured on site, our steel manufacturing customers are able to reduce their carbon emissions – compared to using lower quality products. Vale aims to reduce its scope 3 emissions by 15% by 2035. 

Sustainability is reinforced through the use of 100% electric dredgers, as well as electric pumps, which use electricity from renewable sources rather than fossil fuels, such as diesel fuel. In this way, the project will cut CO2 emissions by 500 thousand tons, equal to the fuel consumption of more than 300 thousand cars, in one year. 

Photo: Vale Archive

Use of waste rock piles at the Serrinha Mine 

The Serrinha Mine, acquired by Vale in 2019, is in the process of gradually closing its deactivated structures – extraction site, tailings dam and waste rock piles. 

Initial investigations indicated an average iron content of over 50% in the waste rock piles, suggesting the viability of using the material, adding to the iron ore production volume. 

By 2026, around 3 million tons of material will be recovered from the mine structures, enabling elimination of all waste rock piles. By 2024, around 0.7 million tons of material from the waste piles will have been used. 

The elimination of waste rock piles mitigates risks such as landslides and erosion, especially during rainy periods, ensuring the safety of the surrounding areas. Removing waste also reduces dust, improving the air quality in nearby areas and limiting the nuisance caused by particle emissions in neighboring areas. Removing the waste piles also helps eliminate potential sources of long-term contamination, allowing natural regeneration of soil and groundwater – leaving a positive environmental legacy. 

Photo: Vale Archive

Pico Mine Block Factory 

In November 2020, Vale inaugurated the Pico Block Factory, after 10 years of research and development in technical cooperation with Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais (CEFET-MG), with more than BRL 25 million invested. 

Located at Mina do Pico, in the municipality of Itabirito (MG), the plant transforms mining waste into blocks for civil construction, enhancing the circular economy in iron ore processing operations. 

The expectation is that, rather than be disposed of in dams or piles, each year around 30,000 tons of tailings will be transformed into 3.8 million units of pre-molded products for wide use in the construction industry, to make interlocking floors, structural concrete blocks and sealing blocks, among other products. 

Photo: Vale Archive

Sustainable sand

In Brazil, around 330 million tons of sand are used annually in the civil construction and industrial segments. Extraction of natural sand often exceeds the rate of replenishment, risking irreversible environmental impact. 

Iron ore processing, meanwhile, generates waste, disposed of in dams or piles. This waste is essentially made up of silica, the main component of sand, and iron oxide. 

Following seven years of investment in reuse solutions research, production of Sustainable Sand began in 2021, at the Brucutu mine, in São Gonçalo do Rio Abaixo (MG), substituting sand extracted from the natural environment. In the same year, Vale began selling the product for civil construction, with high silica and low iron content, in addition to high chemical and granulometric uniformity. 

In 2023, with the founding of the startup Agera, to develop and expand the Vale business, around 0.8 million tons were produced from the processing of mining and iron waste. By the end of 2024, production of sustainable sand was 2 million tons. 

Thus, with the introduction of Sustainable Sand, 100% circular mining is feasible, transforming a material which is normally disposed of into a product that is beneficial to society, contributing positively to biodiversity. 

Photo: Vale Archive