OREANDA-NEWS. Authorization has been received from Brazil's National Land Transport Agency (ANTT) to begin work on the branch line that will connect the future S11D mine to the Carajas Railway, in the south of Para. The edict was published in the Official Government Gazette and is fundamental to the furtherance of our construction operations.

By July of this year, Vale had already obtained a permit from the Canaa dos Carajas (Para) municipal authorities. This document was a pre-requisite for the start of construction activities. Work on the branch line will cover a 101-kilometre stretch, 85 kilometres on the main line and 16 kilometres on the reverse loop (manoeuvring area for locomotives).

The construction forms part of the S11D Logistics project intended to create the necessary infrastructure to handle future production of the S11D plant, expected to begin operations in 2016.

In addition to this construction work, the duplication of 11 sections of the Carajas Railway (EFC) was incorporated into the S11D Logistics project and the initiatives have already obtained the necessary environmental licences. In all, the project will increase the North System's logistics capacity to 230 million metric tons per year.