Vale will eliminate water use in iron ore processing at Carajás by 2027

The miner already processes 90% of the Northern System dry and aims to zero out tailings at the world's largest iron ore mine by the end of 2027.

Vale confirmed it plans to zero out water use in iron ore processing at the Northern System, in Carajás (Pará state), by the end of 2027. The unit, responsible for more than half of the company's iron ore production, already operates with 90% of its volume in dry processing — a method that uses the ore's natural moisture instead of industrial water.

Dry processing isn't a new technology, but applying it at scale at one of the world's largest iron ore mines changes the sector's risk calculus. Without water in beneficiation, there's no tailings slurry to store — and without liquid tailings, there's no need for new dams. It's the difference between reducing a dam's risk and eliminating the need for it to exist at all. Vale is also reusing mine waste rock to produce pellet feed, treating what used to be discarded as an input.

After Brumadinho, Brazil's mining sector has lived under growing regulatory pressure over tailings dams. Dry processing attacks the problem at its root, instead of just monitoring a risk structure more closely. For anyone working in permitting or dam engineering, this is the direction regulators — and investors — will increasingly demand.