Against the backdrop of the global mining industry's accelerated transition to green and low-carbon practices, Brazilian mining giant Vale has made significant strategic progress. On September 4th, local time, the company announced the official restart of the Capanema mining area in Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, which had been out of production for 22 years. The company plans to invest a cumulative total of 67 billion reais (approximately 12.2 billion US dollars) by 2030.Vale is investing US$6.8 billion to comprehensively promote the application of green mining technologies and capacity expansion.

After the mine's restart, it is expected to add approximately 15 million tons of iron ore production to Vale annually, strongly supporting the company's strategic goal of achieving a production capacity of 340 to 360 million tons by 2026. The Capão do Pane Mine employs several innovative technologies, including natural moisture ore processing – a technology that does not require water and does not generate tailings, thereby completely eliminating dependence on tailings dams. In addition, the mine has deployed five autonomous mining trucks and initiated environmentally friendly reprocessing of historical waste piles.To date, Vale has invested 5.2 billion reais in the modernization of the mine. The project took five years to complete, employing approximately 6,000 workers at its peak, and currently employs 800 people in its stable operation phase. The mine is expected to generate 440 million reais in royalties and create approximately 3 billion reais in payroll income for 60,000 professionals. Notably, Vale's business contribution accounted for 3.5% of Minas Gerais' GDP in 2023.In the future, most investments will be directed towards expanding tailings filtration and dry stacking operations, with the goal of reducing the proportion of tailings dams used from the current 30% to 20%. Funds will also be allocated to advance the upstream dam "de-characterization" program – that is, reintegrating the original structures into the natural environment through ecological restoration, so they are no longer used for tailings storage – and to support the demolition of existing mine dams. Currently, of Vale's remaining 13 upstream dams, 8 are being decommissioned, all upstream dams are inactive, and they are subject to 24/7 safety monitoring by the Geotechnical Monitoring Center.Since 2020, Vale has been vigorously promoting the circular mining model in Minas Gerais. In the first half of 2025, the state's circular mining iron ore production reached 9 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 14%. The company expects that by 2030, circular mining production will account for 10% of total production. At the same time, the company has made significant progress in the development and utilization of by-products, with sustainable sand sales exceeding 3 million tons in two years.

Vale CEO Eduardo Bartolomeo said: "Minas Gerais is at the heart of the company's transformation strategy."The restart of the Capanema mine marks a new phase in our mining operations in the state.

This significant project restart not only reflects Vale's firm commitment to transitioning to environmentally friendly mining, but also provides an innovative model for the sustainable development of traditional mining companies worldwide, demonstrating a feasible path for the coordinated development of resource exploitation and environmental protection. Editor/Xu Shengpeng