Vale starts financing iron ore project in Canada

Brazilian mining giant Vale has started financing the Iron Bear Iron Ore Project (IBP) in Canada, Mining Weekly reports.

Vale has allocated $6.3 million for the first phase of investments (the total amount of investments in the first phase will be $18 million) under a binding commercial agreement with Australia’s Cyclone Metals (CLE). The remaining amount will be paid in quarterly installments.

“This is an important milestone for the company, providing us with the necessary funds to develop the Iron Bear project with our partner Vale,” said CLE CEO Paul Behrend.

According to him, a large drilling program of 24 thousand meters is planned from June to November this year.

In February, Vale committed to allocate up to $138 million to finance the project in two stages, receiving a 75% stake in Iron Bear. If the Brazilian company decides to start production, it will have the option to acquire the remaining 25% at fair market value or bring Cyclone to production without diluting its shares.

The Iron Bear project is located less than 25 km from an open access railroad for heavy trucks that connects to the iron ore export port in Schefferville. The project’s resources are 16.6 billion tons with an iron content of 29.3%, and production at the pilot plant has confirmed the production of high-quality direct reduced concentrate with an iron content of 71.3%.

Vale is investing R$70 billion ($12.2 billion) to expand its iron ore and copper operations at the Carajas complex in northern Brazil,
The investments will be made until 2030.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Vale reached its highest level of iron ore production since 2018 in 2024, reaching 327.67 million tons, up 2% year-on-year. Pellets production increased by 1.2% y/y – to 36.89 million tons. The company expects iron ore production to reach 325-335 million tons in 2025 and pellet production to reach 38-42 million tons.