Along with the creation of the company, in 1942, came the possession of the Vitória-Minas Gerais Railroad, which gained 40 km in length. Since then, Brazil has not only gained possession of a major railroad and port facilities, but also a substantial share of mineral wealth.

Since the first years of existence, environmental preservation was already a theme at Vale. In 1951, the Vale Natural Reserve, located in Linhares/ES, was founded. The area began to be formed with the purchase of farms in the region, until reaching the number of 102 properties acquired in the 1970s.

In 1966, the company began to advance in the world export scenario with the inauguration of the Port of Tubarão, in Espírito Santo, motivating a leap in world navigation. The following year, two important milestones took place: the company became one of the 6 largest exporters in the world, selling 26 types of ore, and the Carajás deposits, in the south of Pará, were discovered.

During this period, the company developed a policy of diversification of activities that led it to engage in projects for the production of bauxite/alumina/aluminium, manganese, titanium, phosphate/fertilizers, wood/cellulose, pellets and magnetic ferrites. In addition, in 1973, the first sale of iron ore to China took place, which led Brazil to become the first country in the world to export iron ore to the Chinese.

The 1980s brought about advancements in several areas. There was the inauguration of the Carajás Railroad – which leads the ranking of the most efficient railways in Brazil, thanks to constant investment in technology –, the creation of the Zoobotanical Park – which exclusively houses native species of the Amazonian fauna and flora and is located within the Nacional de Carajás, in a Federal Conservation Unit, occupying an area of ​​30 preserved hectares – and the inauguration of the Ponta da Madeira Maritime Terminal.

In the 1990s, Vale was the main exporter in the country, leader in the world iron ore market. It was much more than a mining company, although the production, processing and transport of ore constituted the center of its operations. In the 1st half of the 1990s, it sought to reinforce competitiveness in traditional areas of activity and continue with the geological survey of mining opportunities, expanding new investments in mining.

And it was at the beginning of the decade, in 1990, that the first woman took over a leadership position. Shirley Virgínia Coutinho was the superintendent director of the Vale do Rio Doce Housing and Social Development Foundation.

This was an important period in the company's history in terms of growth, at the beginning of the decade the shares began to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange. In 2006, it achieved a record market cap of US$ 56.9 billion, making it the largest mining and metals company in the world. In 2007, the brand changed, officially going from CVRD to Vale, as it is today.

Other events, such as the creation of the Botanical Park in Vitória, the launch of the first postgraduate course in Railroad Engineering in the country and the creation of the Vale Institute of Technology also took place during this period.

In its most recent trajectory, Vale has reached important achievements and faced great challenges that have forever marked the company's history. Among the advances are the creation of Vale Fund – which aims to generate a positive socio-environmental impact – the inauguration of Complexo S11D Eliezer Batista – which is the largest mining project in its history and in the mining industry, bringing new impetus to the economic and social development of the country, especially the states of Pará and Maranhão – and the creation of the Vale Cultural Institute – which was created with the aim of promoting and supporting Brazilian cultural wealth.

In this decade we had the tragedies of Mariana and Brumadinho, which made Vale take an even more careful look at the lives of its employees and communities. And it is with a focus on the present that Vale begins its cultural transformation.