Vale informs that it has hired the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom LLP ("Skadden") to select and work together with a panel of experts to evaluate the causes of the rupture of Dam I in Brumadinho. The office will provide advice to Vale on various legal issues arising from the breakdown of Dam I, including regarding certain initiatives that the company may take in response to the breach.

Skadden will instruct the panel of experts to provide their independent professional opinion and expertise to determine the cause of the incident. Skadden's communications with Vale, as well as the work of the experts we will rely on to provide legal guidance, will be protected by the attorney-client privilege arising from the attorney-client relationship and the privilege granted to works prepared by lawyers, unless the company waives such privileges (or if the Brazilian authorities seize the company's records). As the panel of experts executes its activities and reaches a conclusion, Skadden may provide legal advice to the company.

The hiring of Skadden, as well as the creation of the Extraordinary Independent Consulting Committee for Investigation by the Board of Directors (as per the "Vale informs on deliberations by the Board of Directors following the breach of Dam I of the Córrego de Feijão mine" and "Vale announces Chairperson for the Extraordinary Independent Consulting Committee for Investigation" press releases, published on the 27th and 30th of January, respectively) will assist Vale, through independent support, in the investigation of the causes of the breach of Dam I of the Córrego de Feijão mine, in Brumadinho (MG, Brazil).

Vale also informs that it will continue to fully cooperate with the authorities and it will continue to support the investigations in order to determine the facts, in addition to the unconditional support to the impacted families.