NAME CHANGE: Vale Inco shorted to Vale

TORONTO - Brazilian mining giant Vale has announced plans to remove "Inco" from the corporate name of its Canadian assets. The move is called "a milestone that aligns it more fully with other Vale operations worldwide and reflects its position as part of the world's second largest mining company."

When Vale acquired Inco in 2006, it was the largest-ever acquisition by a Latin American company. "We have overcome many challenges and today stand poised to complete significant investments in new nickel operations at Goro in New Caledonia and Onça Puma in Brazil," said Roger Agnelli, president and CEO. "In Canada, we are opening the first new mine in our Ontario operations in close to 40 years, at Totten, and are constructing a new state-of-the-art hydromet processing facility at Long Harbour in Newfoundland. All of this is building towards positioning Vale as the leading, safest and most profitable nickel company in the world, which is our ultimate objective."

Members of the Steelworkers Local 6500 have been on strike at Vale's Ontario operations since July 2009.