Vale is engaged in bauxite exploration in Brazil and Guinea. In 2008, in conjunction with Paragominas’s second expansion phase, the company began supplying the first phase of a new alumina refinery in Barcarena, Pará:
Expansion at Paragominas: The second expansion project at Paragominas will raise its bauxite production capacity from 9.9 to 15 million metric tons per year. This expansion will entail planned investment of R$487 million, with start-up due to take place in the second half of 2013.
Companhia de Alumina do Pará (CAP): This refinery is initially able to produce 1.86 million metric tons of alumina per year. Investment in the first phase is US$2.2 billion, with operations due to come online in the second half of 2013, at the same time Paragominas is expanded. In time, the new refinery will be capable of producing up to 7.4 million metric tons of alumina per year.