Vale to Spend $4.1 Billion on Brazilian Railway Expansion

Mineweb reported that Vale SA (NYSE:VALE) received permission from Brazil’s environmental regulator to expand the Carajas railway by 786 kilometers. The expansion is central to Vale’s plan to produce more iron ore in the Amazon and should be completed by 2017.

As quoted in the market news:

The railway, known as EFC, carries nearly 10 percent of the world’s sea-borne iron ore exports, or about 1 billion tonnes a year, from the Amazon mine complex at Carajas to the Port of Ponta da Madeira in the state of Maranhão, Brazil.

Work on the railway expansion, a $4.1 billion project, should be completed in 2017, supporting Vale’s $8.04 billion expansion of the Carajas complex. The expansion, known as S11D, is expected to begin operations in 2016.

Click here to read the full Mineweb report.