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Companhia Vale Do Rio Doce (CVRD/VALE) History (1942-1989) – by International Directory of Company Histories

For a large selection of corporate histories click: International Directory of Company Histories

Company History:

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) is one of the world’s most important producers of iron ore, iron pellets, and other minerals. Owned primarily by the Brazilian government, it has taken a leading role in developing the mineral resources of the Amazonia region. Much of the company’s success is based on its ability to draw on foreign expertise and capital while at the same time retaining effective control in Brazilian hands.

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce was formed in 1942, receiving the assets of the Itabira Iron Ore Company, including the “iron mountain” of Caué Peak in the Itabira region of Minais Gerais state. The Brazilian government held 80% of the shares in the company, reduced to the present level of 53%. Initially hampered by poor management and inadequate transport facilities, it was only in the early 1950s that the company started on its path to becoming one of the world’s most important exporters of iron ore.

With its success closely linked to improvements in transport which it helped to finance, CVRD also expanded into the production of other minerals, the provision of shipping services, and iron pelleting. It also helped finance and organize a wide range of other industrial and service enterprises. When the huge iron ore reserves of the Amazon region were discovered in the 1960s, it was natural that CVRD be given responsibility for spearheading their exploitation.

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Nine orders issued to Vale [Sudbury mining deaths] – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – June 11, 2011)

The Sudbury Star, the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. cmulligan@thesudburystar.com

McPhee said the emphasis is not on production, but on taking a “compassionate
approach” in dealing with employees who worked with and knew Fram and Chenier,
and are traumatized by their deaths. …  “The emphasis is on employees.”
(Cory McPhee – Vale VP Corporate Affairs)

The Ministry of Labour has issued nine orders — three of them stop-work orders — at Vale Ltd.’s Stobie Mine where two miners were killed Wednesday evening after a run of muck — or broken rock — descended on them.

The ministry, Vale, United Steelworkers and Greater Sudbury Police Service are all involved in the investigation into how the accident that killed Jason Chenier, 35, and Jordan Fram, 26, occurred.

Vale spokesman Cory McPhee said the company is complying with all orders and co-operating with the Labour ministry any way it can. The accident site is frozen, but production could resume soon in the rest of the mine where about 400 people work.

McPhee said the emphasis is not on production, but on taking a “compassionate approach” in dealing with employees who worked with and knew Fram and Chenier, and are traumatized by their deaths.

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Peregrines disrupt Vale’s [Sudbury] demo plans – by Harold Carmichael (Sudbury Star – May 31, 2011)

The Sudbury Star, is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. This article was published on May 31, 2011.  hcarmichael@thesudburystar.com

It has been closed since 1980, but don’t tell a pair of peregrine falcons.

As far as the endangered raptors are concerned, the upper parts of Vale’s Iron Ore Recovery Plant off Fielding Road in Copper Cliff make for a perfect nesting area where they won’t be disturbed.

In fact, the pair — either descendants of young peregrines brought from Alberta to Greater Sudbury back in the early 1990s during Project Peregrine Sudbury or original birds released here — have been making the long-closed building their summer home for four years.

“I would expect so,” said Allison Merla, senior environmental analyst at Vale’s Greater Sudbury operations. “Peregrines will return to the same nesting area year after year.” While the pair’s nest was visible in previous years, it appears this year the nest is situated inside the structure.

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For resource value, reject the helicopter model [Vale/Voisey Bay] – by Jim Stanford (Globe and Mail – May 30, 2011)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous impact and influence on Canada’s political and business elite as well as the rest of the country’s print, radio and television media.

Jim Stanford is an economist with the Canadian Auto Workers union.

Natural resources are increasingly central to Canada’s economic trajectory. Our challenge is to maximize the positive spinoffs from resource developments, while minimizing the economic and environmental costs. In that regard, imagine two extreme cases: one in which resource projects generate diversified and lasting benefits, and one in which they do not.

Consider the negative case first. Suppose a resource is discovered in a remote northern location. Using helicopters, a foreign-owned company flies in necessary capital equipment and supplies, even labour. The resource is transported to global markets, also using helicopters. The profits are exported to the foreign owner, and much of the spending on tools, supplies and specialized workers also leaves the country (since these have been imported). Canada’s GDP is boosted for a while (until the resource runs out), but much of that wealth never “touches down” here.

The opposite to this negative “helicopter” model is a strategy that maximizes Canadian participation in every phase of the development: exploration, investment, production, supply chain and transportation. This doesn’t happen automatically. It takes deliberate measures by the developer (prodded and assisted by government) to maximize lasting benefits to Canadians.

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VALE NEWS RELEASE: $200 MILLION CORe PROJECT CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY AT VALE’S

www.nickel.vale.com

For Immediate Release

SUDBURY, May 27, 2011 – Vale today announced that construction has begun on the Company’s CORe (Challenging Ore Recovery) project at Clarabelle Mill. The $200 million investment will increase metal recoveries at the mill by four per cent, increasing the value extracted from existing resources.

“The CORe project is part of a $3.4 billion investment plan Vale announced for our Sudbury operations in November of last year,” said Jon Treen, General Manager of Vale’s Ontario Operations. “This investment will help modernize our operations and contribute to our ongoing competitiveness and sustainability for years to come in Sudbury.”

The CORe project includes the construction of a new 38,000 square foot flotation plant containing a new flotation system using state-of-the-art technology. The project also involves technology improvements to existing mill infrastructure including installation of a new Isa Mill and replacement of flotation cells. A new dry (change house) is also part of the project along with a construction and equipment laydown yard to accommodate the anticipated workforce.

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NEWS RELEASE: VALE AWARDS MAJOR CONTRACT FOR LONG HARBOUR [NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR] PROCESSING PLANT

www.nickel.vale.com

May 26, 2011 – Vale has awarded a two-year $600 million contract to KBAC Constructors, a Kiewit – BMA – G.J. Cahill  Partnership to provide mechanical, piping, electrical and instrumentation services for the construction of the Long Harbour Processing Plant in Newfoundland and Labrador.

KBAC is a partnership of Peter Kiewit Infrastructure Co., BMA Constructors – a Black & McDonald-Alberici Joint Venture and G.J. Cahill & Company (1979) Limited. 

“The mechanical, piping, electrical and instrumentation services contract is the largest single contract that we have awarded to date on the Long Harbour construction project and one of the largest supplier contracts awarded at Vale,” said John Pollesel, Chief Operating Officer for Vale’s Base Metals Business in North Atlantic. “The partners in the KBAC partnership have been working with us over the last year and we are very pleased to see them come together in a partnership to work on this part of the project.” 

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NEWS RELEASE: [Newfoundland and Labrador] Provincial Government Releases Phase Two Report from Voisey’s Bay Industrial Inquiry Commission

Human Resources, Labour and Employment

Report of the Industrial Inquiry Commission – Report No.2

Report of the Industrial Inquiry Commission – Report No.1 

May 11, 2011

The Honourable Darin King, Minister of Human Resources, Labour and Employment and Minister Responsible for the Labour Relations Agency, released the second and final report of the Voisey’s Bay Industrial Inquiry Commission today.

“On behalf of the Provincial Government, I want to thank the commission members for their work during the course of this inquiry and for the advice they have provided,” said Minister King. “Over the coming weeks and months we will review the report and consult with stakeholders. Our government recognizes the seriousness of this matter and the impact this strike has had on Newfoundland and Labrador. The appointment of an industrial inquiry demonstrated not only our commitment to supporting a resolution to the Voisey’s Bay strike, but also our commitment to maintaining positive labour management relations in this province.”

The report addresses factors which led to the existing labour-management relations climate at Voisey’s Bay and options to improve them; local, provincial, national or international matters that may have contributed to the dispute; impacts of the dispute on other labour-management relationships; and the ramifications of this dispute.

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What Newfoundland & Labrador can teach the rest of Canada about globalization [Vale strike] – by Armine Yalnizyan (The Progressive Economics Forum-May 20, 2011)

Armine Yalnizyan is a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The Progressive Economics Forum aims to promote the development of a progressive economics community in Canada. The PEF brings together over 125 progressive economists, working in universities, the labour movement, and activist research organizations.

“Vale can’t escape scrutiny. Look at what they do in Thompson. This will be looked
at around the world. A Zambian mining president during the strike in Sudbury said if
this is the way they treat people in the first world we don’t want Vale in Zambia, in the
third world.”  (Steve Ashton, MLA for Thompson, Manitoba)

Last fall Premier Danny Williams wondered what could drive anyone to let hundreds of millions of dollars slip through their fingers. Last week he got his answer.

The Roil report on the 18-month strike at Voisey’s Bay nickel mine in northern Labrador is an eye-opening case study in 21st century globalization, and has the potential to be a game-changer. It is the final output of an industrial inquiry commission appointed by now-ex-Premier Williams in October 2010.

At that time about 240 United Steelworkers had been on strike against global mining giant Vale since August 2009, labour relations had become toxic, and Innu and Inuit communities finally poised to make economic gains had become tragically split down the middle.

The commissioners reported that Vale ultimately lost an estimated $500 million to $1 billion in operating revenues; the workers lost over $9 million in wages over 2009 and 2010; the union spent about $4 million in legal fees, staff supports and strike pay; and Newfoundland and Labrador’s GDP took at 1.4% hit in 2009, 2.6% in 2010.

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New Vale CEO [Murilo Ferreira] sees growth with better gov’t ties – Reuters/Mining Weekly.com (May 20, 2011)

Mining Weekly is South Africa’s premier source of weekly news on mining developments in Africa’s most important industry. Mining Weekly provides in-depth coverage of mining projects and the personalities reshaping the mining industry. In order to advance Mining Weekly’s objective of positioning itself as a leading global provider of mining news, a full-time correspondent is based in Toronto, Canada and another in Perth, Australia. 

 RIO DE JANEIRO – The incoming chief executive of Brazilian mining giant Vale vowed on Friday to maintain the company’s booming growth while improving the frayed ties with government leaders that forced the ouster of his predecessor.

Murilo Ferreira, 57, will have to mend fences with President Dilma Rousseff, who led a campaign to remove outgoing CEO Roger Agnelli following years of bitter accusations that Vale was not investing enough in the steel industry or doing enough to help Brazil’s economy.

“Our relationship with the government will be open, frank, and constructive,” Ferreira said during a news conference at Vale’s headquarters in downtown Rio de Janeiro. “The company will continue working under the same vision that brought it success in recent years.”

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‘The Thompson Project’ of 1961: Heart of the city – (Thompson Citizen Editorial – April 20, 2011)

This article was originally published in the Thompson Citizen which was established in June 1960. The Citizen covers the City of Thompson and Nickel Belt Region of Northern Manitoba. The city has a population of about 13,500 residents while the regional population is more than 40,000.  news@thompsoncitizen.net

“Vale may have bought Inco but the resource is ours. They have no right to treat our
community and our province this way. … Since the 1950s, we’ve had an integrated
operation. Read the 1956 agreement – it talks about setting up a mining, milling, smelting
and refining operation. This was part of the social contract that set up this community.”
(Thompson, Manitoba MLA Steve Ashton)

Two days after Vale announced last November they were closing their Thompson smelter and nickel refinery in 2015, wiping out 500 jobs and $65 million in payroll directly, Thompson NDP MLA and cabinet minister Steve Ashton’s regular “MLA Report” column appeared in the Nickel Belt News. Normally, Ashton’s column is week-after-week pretty tame fare and likely to offend – well, no one. This column was different.

Because of our deadlines, the column actually arrived two days before publication and just hours after Vale made the announcement in Toronto. We picked up a few paragraphs from it for a day one news story online, characterizing it as “blistering.”

“Vale’s announcement that they are eliminating the surface operation here in Thompson is unacceptable,” Ashton wrote. “Since the 1950’s Thompson has had a fully integrated mining operation. The development of the refinery and smelter were integral parts of the 1956 agreement that established Thompson.

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[Thompson, Manitoba Steelworkers President] Nychyporuk says ‘no’: USW rejects vision – by Ryan Flanagan (Thompson Citizen – May 21, 2011)

This article was originally published in the Thompson Citizen which was established in June 1960. The Citizen covers the City of Thompson and Nickel Belt Region of Northern Manitoba. The city has a population of about 13,500 residents while the regional population is more than 40,000.  news@thompsoncitizen.net

“We believe our community will not recover from the loss of our jobs or
any other related employment. We also believe this decision will change
the landscape of our community forever.” (Thompson Steelworker President
Murray Nychyporuk – May 21, 2011)

Almost exactly six months after Vale’s announcement that they will close their Thompson smelter and refinery by the end of 2015, the company and other local stakeholders have begun to turn their attention to what they want the city to look like after that point.

In a joint May 18 news release from the City of Thompson and Vale, the two groups announced the formation of the Thompson Economic Diversification Working Group (TEDWG), which will be chaired by the city and will also include representation from local business and aboriginal communities. Vale is funding the group, which is expected to last an initial 12 months for identification and implementation of a strategy.

“What I want this working group to do is go out there and really drill down,” said Mayor Tim Johnston. “Go out there and get the details of some proposals – I want them to be really detailed, looking at what are real opportunities.”

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[Thompson, Manitoba MLA] Steve Ashton threatens Vale with provincial mining legislation on smelter and refinery shutdown – by Ryan Flanagan (Thompson Citizen – May 20, 2011)

This article was originally published in the Thompson Citizen which was established in June 1960. The Citizen covers the City of Thompson and Nickel Belt Region of Northern Manitoba. The city has a population of about 13,500 residents while the regional population is more than 40,000.  news@thompsoncitizen.net

“The 1956 agreement isn’t just about municipal services, though we believe that has
to be addressed to protect Thompson’s interest. It’s also about the fact that under
that agreement, Inco as it then was has a preferred position in this province on a
whole series of things. Clearly, if they think they can take the value-added out and
not see any consequences, they’re wrong.”
(Thompson, Manitoba MLA Steve Ashton – May 20, 2011)

Minister says if 1956 agreement isn’t going to be relied on by company, then all bets are off

It’s been more than six months since Vale announced their plans to close their Thompson refinery and smelter by the end of 2015, and more than three months since a group of local stakeholders traveled to Toronto to present Vale senior management with their proposals to reverse that decision, or at least minimize its impact on Thompson.

What’s changed in that time? To hear Thompson MLA Steve Ashton tell it, nothing.

“We’re disappointed, provincially, and I’m certainly disappointed that Vale is still not addressing the direct issue,” said Ashton on May 20. “We continue to believe that the issue here is value-added jobs from the resource, and we certainly have not given up on the smelter and refinery.”

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A bridge between two worlds [Aboriginal Communities and Canada Mining Sector] – by Diane Jermyn (Globe and Mail – May 18, 2011)

 The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous impact and influence on Canada’s political and business elite as well as the rest of the country’s print, radio and television media.

Miners have started engaging the aboriginal communities on whose land they dig. But is it enough?

Leanne Bellegarde tries to connect communities. She’s a member of the Kawacatoose First Nation in Saskatchewan, a lawyer, and now, the director of aboriginal strategy for PotashCorp.

Native people are the youngest and fastest growing demographic in Saskatchewan. PotashCorp, a global potash producer in the province, projects it will need 800 new workers over the next two years, thanks to expansion and retirements.

But what should be an ideal match – people wanting jobs and a company needing workers – presents deep challenges. Many jobs at PotashCorp require Grade 12 or equivalency. Ms. Bellegarde says it’s difficult to find people who meet that bar in First Nations and Métis communities. And so the jobs often go to qualified outsiders, frustrating aboriginal people.

PotashCorp is one of many mining companies in Canada that realize engagement with native communities isn’t just a feel-good enterprise but an economic growth strategy. But while this engagement goes far deeper than in the past, some say it’s just the beginning of what’s truly needed.

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Asian demand ‘tsunami’ to buoy commodity prices – Vale [Canada CEO Tito Martins predicts] – by Matthew Hill (Miningweekly.com – May 6, 2011)

Mining Weekly is South Africa’s premier source of weekly news on mining developments in Africa’s most important industry. Mining Weekly provides in-depth coverage of mining projects and the personalities reshaping the mining industry. In order to advance Mining Weekly’s objective of positioning itself as a leading global provider of mining news, a full-time correspondent is based in Toronto, Canada and another in Perth, Australia. 

If you look at it carefully it’s not a wave, it’s a tsunami. [Chinese urbanization] …
I see, for the long term, this scenario of scarcity to remain for at least five years …
I don’t believe producers will have capacity to cope with this huge movement in
urbanisation, people need raw materials…” (Tito Martins, CEO Vale Canada Ltd.
and Executive Director, Base Metals – May 6, 2011)

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The world’s second-biggest mining company, announcing record first-quarter profits, on Friday said a “tsunami” of Asian urbanisation would lead to shortages in iron-ore supply at least until 2016 as miners failed to keep pace with demand.

Basic materials executive Tito Martins said that debt problems in the US and Europe would not change this. “It’s a big wave coming. If you look at it carefully it’s not a wave, it’s a tsunami. The earthquake started maybe 10, 15 years ago, when China started moving huge quantities of people from the countryside to the city,” he commented on a conference call.

Martin echoed comments that Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto made earlier this year that China had accomplished a magnitude of industrialisation over the past two decades that had taken the Western World 250 years to accomplish.

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OMA member Vale makes lasting conservation commitment

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

 

Community leaders, environmentalists, painters and award-winning folk singers all applauded the announcement by Ontario Mining Association member Vale to surrender portions of its aggregate license near Willisville, located south of Espanola.  The subsequent result is that historic Willisville Mountain will be untouched by the company’s future operations in the area.

“Willisville Mountain is an area rich in beauty and even richer in history,” said Jon Treen, General Manager of Vale’s Ontario Operations.  “It is an iconic landmark that should remain undisturbed and Vale is committed to the ongoing stewardship of the area.”

Vale and predecessor company Inco have operated a quarry in the area since the middle of the past century, which supplies silica to the nickel producer’s smelting operations in nearby Sudbury.  “On behalf of the residents of Willisville, the LaCloche Mountains Preservation Society and their many supporters, I applaud Vale on their leadership and resolve to save the pristine wilderness,” said Jon Butler, President of the La Cloche Mountain Preservation Society and Willisville resident.

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