Vale S A : informs on Totten Mine incident (Form 6-K)

Vale informs on Totten Mine incident

Rio de Janeiro, September 27^th, 2021 - Vale S.A. (Vale) informs that on Sunday afternoon at Totten Mine, a scoop bucket that was being slung underground detached from the conveyance and is currently hung up in the shaft. As a result, the conveyance for transporting employees is unavailable.

Thirty-nine employees at Vale's Totten mine in Sudbury, Ontario, are safe and mobilizing to exit the underground mine. The employees were underground at the time and immediately went to refuge stations as part of our standard procedures. We have been in frequent communication with them since the incident. There are no reports of injuries and they have had and continue to have access to water and food. The rescue crew has reached the miners and is starting to move them up via a secondary egress ladder system. Rescuing our employees safely and timely is our number one priority.

In the first six months of 2021, Totten mine produced 3,600 tons of finished nickel. Production at the site is temporarily suspended and we are currently assessing the necessary measures to resume production.

Luciano Siani Pires

Executive Officer of Investor Relations

Ever since the Covid-19 outbreak began, our highest priority is the health and safety of our employees. Our IR team adopted work-from-home, and as we continue to face these new circumstances, we strongly recommend you prioritize e-mail and online engagement.

For further information, please contact:

[e-mail]

Ivan Fadel: [e-mail]

Andre Werner: [e-mail]

Mariana Rocha: [e-mail]

Samir Bassil: [e-mail]

This press release may include statements that present Vale's expectations about future events or results. All statements, when based upon expectations about the future, involve various risks and uncertainties. Vale cannot guarantee that such statements will prove correct. These risks and uncertainties include factors related to the following: (a) the countries where we operate, especially Brazil and Canada; (b) the global economy; (c) the capital markets; (d) the mining and metals prices and their dependence on global industrial production, which is cyclical by nature; and (e) global competition in the markets in which Vale operates. To obtain further information on factors that may lead to results different from those forecast by Vale, please consult the reports Vale files with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Brazilian Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) and in particular the factors discussed under "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in Vale's annual report on Form 20-F.