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    Vale 20% reserve growth target to 2027: planning notes for mine engineers

    April 1, 2026|

    Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

    Vale 20% reserve growth target to 2027: planning notes for mine engineers

    First reported on MINING.com

    30 Second Briefing

    Vale’s base metals unit is targeting a 20% increase in Canadian and Brazilian mineral reserves and resources between 2024 and end‑2027, building on 2024 gains that lifted total copper reserves and resources 6% to 53 million tonnes and nickel 13% to 14 million tonnes, with copper resources now covering more than 65 years at current production rates. Proven and probable reserves stand at 1.25 billion tonnes grading 0.66% Cu (8.2 Mt contained) and 419.3 million tonnes grading 1.42% Ni (5.9 Mt contained), supporting CEO Gustavo Pimenta’s plan to double copper output from 382,000 tonnes to 1 Mt/y over the next decade. Exploration priorities for 2026 include doubling drilling in Brazil’s Carajás to over 120,000 m and intensifying brownfield work at Sudbury and Voisey’s Bay to extend near‑mine, satellite and down‑plunge mineralisation.

    Technical Brief

    • Proven and probable copper reserves increased from 8.1 Mt to 8.2 Mt contained year-on-year.
    • Nickel proven and probable reserves rose from 5.6 Mt to 5.9 Mt contained over the same period.
    • Salobo mine in Pará delivered record Q4 copper output, driving a 6% quarter-on-quarter copper increase.
    • Vale’s 2025 exploration results and 2026 outlook underpin the reserve growth target and drilling expansions.
    • Carajás drilling will exceed 120,000 m in 2026, explicitly focused on copper growth targets.
    • Brownfield exploration at Sudbury and Voisey’s Bay is directed at sustaining and expanding existing Cu–Ni operations.
    • Near-mine extensions, satellite deposits and down-plunge continuity are the primary geological targets for copper additions.
    • Strategic focus has been narrowed to iron ore, copper and nickel after underperforming diversification attempts.

    Our Take

    With Vale Base Metals already lining up Sandvik AutoMine-ready drills for Brazilian copper operations (Jan 2026 item), the 20% reserve/resource growth push in Carajás and Salobo likely assumes higher drilling productivity and tighter blast control to convert resources to reserves faster.

    The separate move to bring in Exiro, Orion and Canada Growth Fund at the Thompson nickel complex in Manitoba (Feb 2026) suggests Vale is comfortable using partnership capital for Canadian nickel, which could free more internal capital to chase copper and iron ore reserve growth in Brazil and Sudbury.

    Within our 356 copper- and iron-ore-keyword pieces, Vale’s stated ambition to support more than six decades of copper production puts it at the long-life end of the asset spectrum, which typically underpins lower unit costs and stronger bargaining power with OEMs and contractors across Latin America and Canada.

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    Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.

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