OREANDA-NEWS. November 24, 2011. The board of Brazil’s Vale has approved a USD 6 billion expansion for its Moatize coal project in Mozambique to lift output to 22 million tonnes per year from the 11 million tonnes it expects to mine initially, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Marcelo Matos, general manager for marketing and sales at Vale’s coal unit, told a coal conference in Maputo that first production from the expanded mine is forecast for the second half of 2014.

Vale is the second biggest mining company in the world and the largest private company in Latin America. Headquartered in Brazil and operating in 38 countries, Vale now employs over 126,000 people, including employees and contractors.