Brazil-based miner Vale has announced its operational results for the third quarter of this year, reporting iron ore production of 92.1 million mt, rising 1.5 percent year on year, excluding Samarco’s attributable production. The increase in iron ore production was mainly due to the better operational performance at the company’s Northern System mines and plants, located in the Carajás mineral province of the Brazilian state of Pará, the start-up of a new crushing facility at the Fazendão mine and better productivity in the Southern and Southeastern systems, both located in the Iron Quadrangle region of the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil.
In the given period, Vale's pellet production amounted to 12.07 million mt, down one percent compared to the same quarter of 2015.
Meanwhile, in the given quarter, Vale’s coal production reached 2.32 million mt, increasing by 13.2 percent compared to the third quarter of 2015, mainly as a result of the ramp-up of the Moatize II plant after its start-up in August this year and the resumption of the Carborough Downs operations after facing operational challenges in the second quarter of the current year. Production of metallurgical coal amounted to 1.63 million mt, 0.8 percent lower than the same period of the previous year.