The incident marked Vale's second deadly accident in the region in three years, leading the company to suspend dividend payments, Barron's said.

Further, a court ordered Vale to stop work at its Brucutu mine and its license to operate at the property was revoked. The company also invoked the force majeure clause on some of its contracts as a result of lower production, Barron's noted.

Vale's troubles have been helped Cleveland-Cliffs shares, Barron's said. Following its fourth-quarter earnings report, Cleveland-Cliffs stocks rose 8.5 percent to $11.83 on Friday.

The company earned $2.03 per share in the quarter on revenue of $696.3 million. It said on a conference call that the affect of Vale events has not yet been quantified.

Macquarie analyst David Lipschitz reiterated an "Outperform" rating on Cleveland-Cliffs and raised his price target by $2, to $13, following the earnings report, Barron's said.

(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Bill Berkrot)