With a mission to transform natural resources into prosperity and sustainable development, Vale is a global mining company with headquarters in Brazil. We are leaders in the production of iron ore and the second largest producer of nickel.​

In 1996, Vale Inco acquired the rights to the Vale Inco Newfoundland and Labrador nickel-copper-cobalt deposits located on the eastern edge of a vast expanse of northern wilderness 300 kilometres north of Happy Valley-Goose Bay in Labrador, Canada.

In June 2002, Vale Inco, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Vale Inco Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador jointly announced an agreement in principle on a $1.9 billion (Cdn. $2.9 billion) plan to develop the Vale Inco Newfoundland and Labrador deposit. The negotiated agreements entered into in early October 2002 consisted of a Development Agreement and an Industrial and Employment Benefits Agreement.

Three years later, in the fall of 2005, operations in Labrador came onstream some eight months ahead of schedule. Currently, concentrate from Vale Inco Newfoundland and Labrador is being sprocessed in Long Harbour, NL.