Vale's iron-ore output up 6% in first quarter, sales jump

Brazilian miner Vale on Tuesday reported growth of 6.1% in its first-quarter iron-ore production from a year earlier, driven by improved output from a key project in northern Brazil, while sales in the period also jumped.

Vale's iron ore output in the first three months of the year totaled 70.84-million metric tons, it said in a securities filing, buoyed by its S11D mine in Para state, which had its best performance in four years.