BARCARENA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil's mining giant Vale on Thursday opened the world's biggest aluminum refinery here and announced 20 billion dollars of investment in the region to boost output of several metals.
The refinery, in the northern Brazilian town of Barcarena, will provide seven percent of global aluminum production, with annual output of 6.26 million tons, the company said.
This year will see five billion dollars invested in the state of Para, where the refinery is located, with another 15 billion dollars following over the next four years, Vale said.
The extra money is part of an overall investment envelope of 59 billion dollars the company has come up with, financed in part by an 11.5-billion-dollar injection of funds from a share sell-off last month.
Vale intends to expand operations in iron, bauxite, aluminum, copper, nickel, logistics and energy generation with the cash.
"Fifty-six percent of new jobs created by Vale in the world will be in Para," said the company.
It explained that, of the 60,000 hires it will make between now and 2012, 47,000 will be in Brazil -- and 33,400 will be in Para, doubling the company's workforce in the state. Vale currently has 154,700 employees worldwide.
Vale is the second biggest miner in the world after Anglo-Australian group BHP Billiton, and is the top producer of iron ore.
It brought in a record 12 billion dollars in profit last year, buoyed by demand in emerging markets, especially China.
Vale has invested 41 billion dollars over the past five years -- half of that going to buying foreign companies and the other half to production, research and realizing projects.
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