Brazil mine bill proposes doubling top royalty to 4%

Brazil, a major producer of iron-ore, gold, copper and other metals, unveiled a long-awaited bill to reform its 46-year-old mining code on Tuesday, proposing a doubling of the current top royalty rate and stricter rules for opening new mines....

The big money bails on Argentina - again

More than a decade after Argentina's epic financial collapse of 2001-02, many investors are rushing for the door once again. From big Chinese and Brazilian companies like miner Vale, to small-business owners and savers, the fear of a new crisis...

Brazil delays mining bill, says to reach Congress in June

Brazil's government plans to submit its mining reform bill to Congress in June rather than this month, energy minister Edison Lobao said on Thursday, prolonging a wait that is slowing investment in mineral extraction. The bill, first unveiled in...

Vale now active in Southern, Central and West Africa

In June, Brazilian diversified mining major Vale, the world’s second-biggest mining company by market capitalisation, reaffirmed that it is set to make major investments in Africa by 2016. “Our current investment proposal in Africa is to...

Brazilian major now active in Southern, Central and West Africa

In June, Brazilian diversified mining major Vale, the world’s second biggest mining company by market capitalisation, reaffirmed that it is set to make major investments in Africa by 2016.

Vale CEO Ferreira losing no sleep over future iron-ore demand

Despite fears growing over the global economy, with the US on the brink of defaulting on its debts and the Eurozone crisis, world number-one iron-ore miner Vale CEO Murilo Ferreira is optimistic about demand and prices for the steelmaking...

Brazilian group ranks West African project highly

The CEO of the world’s second biggest (in terms of market capitalisation) mining group, Brazil’s Vale, Murilo Ferreira, has asserted that the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea “is a very important initiative” for his company – “it is...

China’s drive to acquire minerals triggers Brazilian countermeasures

The Brazilian government is planning to put limits on foreign investment in the country’s mining industry, the newspaper O Folha de São Paulo reported on Wednesday. The paper stated that Brasília was becoming concerned at the increasing...

Brazil holds up mining bill, eyes royalty change

Brazil's government will likely wait at least until the next administration takes office in 2011 before changing a mining law and discussing a possible royalty hike, a government official told Reuters. Both moves could potentially deteriorate the...