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United States

Securities and Exchange Commission

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 6-K

Report of Foreign Private Issuer

Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16

of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the month of

February 2012

Vale S.A.

Avenida Graça Aranha, No. 26
20030-900 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

(Address of principal executive office)

(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.)

(Check One) Form 20-F x   Form 40-F o

(Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1))

(Check One) Yes o   No x

(Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7))

(Check One) Yes o   No x

(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.)

(Check One) Yes o   No x

(If “Yes” is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b). 82-   .)

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Table of Contents:

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BM&F BOVESPA: VALE3, VALE5

NYSE: VALE, VALE.P

HKEx: 6210, 6230

EURONEXT PARIS: VALE3, VALE5

LATIBEX: XVALO, XVALP

www.vale.com

rio@vale.com

Departament of

Investor Relations

Roberto Castello Branco

Viktor Moszkowicz

Carla Albano Miller

Andrea Gutman

Christian Perlingiere

Fernando Frey

Marcio Loures Penna

Samantha Pons

Thomaz Freire

Tel: (5521) 3814-4540

4Q11

ANOTHER YEAR OF HIGH PERFORMANCE

Performance of Vale in 2011

Rio de Janeiro, February 15, 2012 — Vale S.A. (Vale) reports a strong performance in 2011, which is reflected in all-time high figures for operating revenues (US$ 60.4 billion), operating income (US$ 30.1 billion), operating margin (48.5%), cash generation (US$ 35.3 billion) and net earnings (US$ 22.9 billion). Shipments of iron ore and pellets peaked, at almost 300 Mt, while nickel and copper sales had their best year since 2008.

Ricardo Flores, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said: “In 2011, the return of cash to shareholders reached US$ 12 billion, a record mark. This makes clear that alongside its excellent performance Vale has a significant potential. I am sure that the company will continue to be strongly committed with long-term value creation and sustainable development”.

Murilo Ferreira, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Our financial performance was outstanding, better than ever before. We broke several records, despite a challenging economic scenario. The disciplined execution of our strategy and the high operating performance were instrumental for allowing us to benefit from a strong global demand for our products”.

Vale is strongly committed to create shareholder value, with a strong focus on the efficiency of capital management. In order to strengthen discipline in capital allocation, we have implemented some initiatives to minimize risks of delays and cost overruns in project execution and have taken a more proactive stance towards returning excess cash to shareholders.

Our Board of Directors approved a reorganization of the Executive Board with the purpose of stimulating better interaction between corporate activities and the business units and stronger team work. A division in charge of project implementation, headed by an Executive Director, was created with the focus on improving the quality of project execution.

Five new projects came on stream in 2011 — Onça Puma, Oman, Moatize, Estreito and Karebbe - which are still ramping up, with their growth and value generation potential to be materialized in 2012 and 2013. The growth and value creation dynamics will be supported in the following years by the delivery of world-class iron ore, pellets, coal, copper, nickel and potash projects currently under construction.

The operation permit for the N5 South pit, in the Northern Range of Carajás, was the first license for mining operation in Carajás since 2002. It allows the exploitation of a rich iron ore deposit with high Fe content, contributing to sustain the high quality of our production.

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To exploit synergies and to allow for the full exposure of Vale shareholders to the value creation potential of the fertilizers business, we delisted our subsidiary Vale Fertilizantes, following the buy-out transaction of its minority shareholders. Seeking to exploit opportunities for synergies and rationalization of the asset portfolio is one of our permanent goals.

The dividend yield of our shares was the highest among our peers and one of the highest among large global companies.

Vale had its credit risk upgraded by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) to A- from BBB+. Pursuant to the S&P credit risk rating scale, an A rating indicates a strong capacity to meet financial commitments. The upgrade reflects our powerful cash flow, strong balance sheet and the permanent focus on minimizing the cost of capital.

In line with our focus on people and the paramount importance of human life, we are enhancing work safety standards, regardless of the fact that Vale already shows some of the best safety indicators in the mining industry. Expenditures on corporate social responsibility were US$ 1.5 billion, with US$ 1.0 billion on environmental protection and US$ 457 million for social programs.

Results in 4Q11 were very robust, but below 3Q11, as a consequence of lower prices caused by the European recession and the negative expectations produced by the Euro area debt crisis.

The main highlights of Vale’s performance were:

·                  Record operating revenues of US$ 60.389 billion in 2011, 29.9% above last year’s mark of US$ 46.481 billion. In 4Q11, operating revenues were US$ 14.755 billion.

·                  Record operating income from existing operations as measured by adjusted EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) (a) - excluding non-recurring gains - of US$ 28.599 billion(1). In 4Q11, operating income was US$ 6.023 billion.

·                  Record operational margin from existing operations, as measured by adjusted EBIT margin, of 48.5% in 2011. In 4Q11, operational margin was 41.7%.

·                  Record net earnings of US$ 22.885 billion in 2011, equal to US$ 4.36 per share on a fully diluted basis. Earnings were US$ 4.672 billion in 4Q11, and earnings per share US$ 0.90 on a fully diluted basis.

·                  All-time high cash generation from existing operations as measured by adjusted EBITDA(b) (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) - excluding non-recurring gains - of US$ 33.759 billion¹. In 4Q11, adjusted EBITDA was US$ 7.396 billon.

·                  Record sales of iron ore and pellets, at 299.1 Mt, showing a 1.6% increase over 2010.

·                  Record capital expenditures, excluding acquisitions, of US$ 18.0 billion in 2011, of which US$ 13.4 billion spent on project execution and research and development (R&D).

·                  An all-time high US$ 12.0 billion return of capital to shareholders, comprising a dividend distribution of US$ 9.0 billion, equal to US$ 1.7354

(1)  If including the non-recurring gain of US$ 1.513 billion in 1Q11 from the sale of aluminum assets, in 2011 adjusted EBIT was US$ 30.112 billion and adjusted EBITDA was US$ 35.272 billion.

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per common or preferred share, and the US$ 3.0 billion share buy-back program fully executed. For 2012, a minimum dividend of US$ 6 billion.

·                  A strong balance sheet with low debt leverage, measured by total debt/LTM adjusted EBITDA, equal to 0.66x, and the maintenance of a long average debt maturity, of 9.8 years.

Table 1 - SELECTED FINANCIAL INDICATORS

(1) Excluding the non-recurring gain of US$ 1.513 billion from the sale of aluminum assets in 1Q11.

(1) ROIC LTM = return on invested capital for last twelve-month period.

Except where otherwise indicated the operational and financial information in this release is based on the consolidated figures in accordance with US GAAP and, with the exception of information on investments and behavior of markets, quarterly financial statements are reviewed by the company’s independent auditors. The main subsidiaries that are consolidated are the following: Compañia Minera Misky Mayo S.A.C., Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica (FCA), Ferrovia Norte Sul S.A, PT Vale Indonesia Tbk (formerly International Nickel Indonesia Tbk), Vale Australia Pty Ltd., Vale Canada Limited (formely Vale Inco Limited), Vale Colômbia Ltd., Mineração Corumbaense Reunida S.A., Vale Fertilizantes S.A., Vale International, Vale Manganês S.A., Vale Manganèse France, Vale Manganese Norway S.A. and Vale Nouvelle Caledonie SAS.

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INDEX

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·                  BUSINESS OUTLOOK

After the strong recovery from the Great Recession of 2008/2009, global economic activity decelerated in 2011, expanding at below-trend pace. Various factors influenced the slower global growth, which contributed to heighten the volatility of financial asset and commodity prices and to create negative expectations about the future.

The oil and food price shock produced a temporary rise in inflation, causing purchasing power losses and as a consequence a negative impact on consumption expenditures. However, the effects of these shocks have dissipated since the latter part of 2011. Libyan oil output is recovering faster than expected and the commitment of Saudi Arabia and the UAE to offset an eventual cut in Iranian exports helps to keep prices within a range which does not cause a threat to global economic stability.

Natural disasters produced volatility in short-term growth, with the most severe one, the Tohoku earthquake, provoking immediately a large fall in Japanese real output and disruption of the global supply chain. Later in the year, the floods in Thailand produced a similar effect, although with a smaller magnitude, given the limited size of the Thai economy. The global supply chain is back to normalcy following the recovery in Japanese and Thai manufacturing production and exports.

The normalization of monetary and fiscal policies in emerging economies from the expansionary mode adopted to counteract the effects of the global financial shock of 2008 was able to curb an inflationary trend but at the same time set in motion a cyclical downswing in economic activity. Since the third quarter of 2011, the central banks of emerging economies - starting with the Central Bank of Brazil and followed by others in Latin America and Asia — have made a gradual exit from tight monetary and credit policies in order to stimulate growth.

Given that most of the forces underlying the deceleration of economic activity last year have faded, cyclical dynamics are pointing to acceleration over the next few months. Global manufacturing PMI rose for the second consecutive month in January 2012, driven by a surge in new orders, while there was a large drop in finished goods inventories, a movement signaling an expansion of global industrial output in the short-term, thus ultimately leading to a strengthening of the demand for minerals and metals.

Global IP growth plunged in 4Q11, but there is evidence of performance improvement in some countries by yearend. Although US manufacturers were ramping up production, in Asia output was cut to allow for a slowing down in inventory accumulation. As suggested by the rise in the new orders/inventory ratio, it is highly likely that these drags on global manufacturing are diminishing.

Of course, the continuation of industrial production recovery is conditional on the expansion of final demand. Global retail sales were showing a poor performance by the end of 2011, mostly influenced by the recession in Europe. On the other hand, retail sales in emerging economies have accelerated and global car sales are rebounding, helping to create momentum for global industrial production growth.

The combination of declining global inflation, accommodative monetary policies, inventory building, and a positive feedback loop from improving asset prices, has the potential to create a brighter global economic outlook for 2012 - fueled by emerging market economies - in which acceleration is expected to take place in the second half of the year.

A moderate global economic performance is expected, given the broad-based need of developed economies to cut budget deficits in order to address the debt sustainability issue. In addition, the deleveraging of European banks is tightening credit and producing recessionary pressures on the Euro area, working also as a drag on emerging market growth.  However, global growth is estimated to be strong enough to sustain a robust demand for minerals and metals.

In this context, the Euro area debt crisis remains overwhelmingly the downside risk to world economic growth. In the short-term, the European Central Bank (ECB) extension of the collateral pool and 3-year financing to banks has generated expectations that official support mechanisms will be able to deal with the crisis, translated into a decline in Euro area tail risks and a rally in risk assets.

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For instance, January 2012 was the best January for emerging market equities since 2001, and Italian and Spanish 10-yr sovereign bond yields fell 1,778 and 1,453 basis points, respectively, from the end of November 2011 to mid-February 2012.

At the same time, the ECB support for the banking system has helped to give policy makers time to underpin sovereign funding.

More fundamentally, securing political agreement to build funding capacity to meet the large potential needs of the Euro area debt-troubled countries is a key move to produce a powerful deterrent to the crisis spillover to the global economy.

China´s economy performed well in 2011, with growth slowing smoothly, but still being very robust in absolute terms given its size as the world´s second largest economy. There was no property sector collapse or local government debt crisis, two of the major financial markets concerns. For this year, the Chinese economy faces two major risks: the effect of the weakening of exports resulting from the European recession and the deceleration in housing investment.

Exports are decelerating, very likely bottoming in 1H12. Despite being the largest world exporter, Chinese growth has been primarily driven by domestic demand, a characteristic that helps to explain the resilience of China´s economy during the global recessions of 1998, 2001 and 2008/2009.

Given the reversal in the inflation trend and the slowing of the pace of economic activity, the focus of government authorities has changed from inflation fighting to supporting growth. Some policy easing is beginning to be implemented and likely to become more intense if needed: (a) a gradual exiting from the tight monetary policy implemented since mid-2010; (b) some loosening in credit controls, mostly for small and medium sized enterprises and for first mortgages; (c) increases in infrastructure investment, chiefly in the Central and Western regions of the country and social housing spending.

The ongoing policy restrictions in the property sector have led to weakness in sales and housing starts. The slowdown in overall construction and the fall in land purchases have caused a sharp deceleration in property investment.

It is highly likely that social housing will have an important role in Chinese property construction, as it allows the government to maintain restrictions on credit to the sector, contributing to make house prices more affordable while offsetting the negative impact on growth arising from the performance of the housing market. About 8 million units of social housing were completed in 2011 against 3 million in 2010, and another 8 million are estimated to be delivered this year.

Given the importance of property construction in the Chinese economy, a push for a rapid increase in social housing construction is highly likely in the event of the emergence of recessionary pressures.

After falling in 2010 - the first drop in many years - Chinese iron ore imports increased by 10.8% in 2011, reaching 687 Mt, which represents 64.8% of the global seaborne trade. Seaborne trade in 2011 was 1.065 billion metric tons, rising 7.0% over the prior year.

The recession in Europe has had a negative impact on the global demand for iron ore and pellets. Our sales of iron ore and pellets to Europe dropped significantly in 4Q11, but we were able to more than offset the demand contraction in the region, setting records for both annual and fourth quarter shipments.

Despite the economic downturn in Europe, we expect a tight global market for iron ore this year, as Chinese demand continues to grow and supply expansion becomes constrained.

Project execution remains a major challenge, and only a limited number of small low-quality high cost projects will come on stream in 2012.

Impoverishment of the quality of existing reserves, reflected in lower Fe content, higher impurities and greater volumes of tailings, contributes to higher opex and capex costs and limits supply growth as it forces mining companies to invest in new capacity just to keep up with replacing lost capacity.

India, the third largest global supplier, saw its exports decreasing for the second year in a row, reaching 69.5 Mt last year against the peak of 113.9 Mt reached in 2009. India supplied 31.0% of Chinese imports in 2005, but since then it has lost ground, accounting for only 9.7% in 2011. The government ban on illegal mining and the

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need to allocate additional volumes of iron ore to feed expanding domestic steel production has created a downward trend for Indian exports, which is expected to continue over the next few years.

Given the challenges to supply growth, high prices are required to incentivize production from marginal high-cost miners, such as the Chinese iron ore producers and non-traditional suppliers. For instance, simultaneously to the rise in real iron ore prices and reflecting the relative scarcity of iron ore in the world, during the last ten years China more than doubled the number of countries from which it imports iron ore, recently reaching 46.

Alongside the adoption of price flexibility, Vale is building a distribution network to enhance its competitiveness in the global iron ore market. In addition to a fleet of very large ore carriers (Valemax), we are implementing distribution centers in the Middle East — Oman is already in operation — and Southeast Asia, the Malaysian center, will come on stream in 2014.

Given the long distance from our ports to these regions, the distribution centers will develop an important role, increasing flexibility to meet client demand in a more timely manner and creating new storage and blending capacity. The blending of different ores will improve our ability to satisfy client demand for specific types of products.

Our first floating transfer station, located in Subic Bay, in the Philippines, is starting operations, making feasible total or partial transfer of iron ore cargoes from the Valemax vessels to smaller ships. According to our distribution strategy, about 85% of the distance between Brazil and Asia will be covered by large low-cost vessels sailing to the distribution centers and the transfer station, with the remaining distance being covered by smaller ships, better suited to accessing smaller ports with a high level of operating safety.  Therefore, the strategy will contribute to increase our capacity to service clients at lower costs.

Global stainless steel output reached an-all time high figure of 33.181 million metric tons in 2011. It increased 3.8% over 2010, which saw a strong recovery in production, rising 23.6% against the prior year. After some slowing in 4Q11, the demand for stainless steel is improving again as we enter 2012, with orders increasing in the Americas and Europe.

The demand for nickel for non-stainless steel applications continues to increase. Some major end users of nickel are growing strongly: aerospace, industrial gas turbines, autos, heavy equipment and energy.

The improvement in expectations concerning the Euro area debt crisis was one of main factors underlying the recent nickel price rally, from the lows of US$ 17,000 at the end of November 2011 to the recent level of US$ 21,000.  Given the demand prospects, the outlook for nickel prices depends on the pace of the ramp up of new projects and Chinese pig iron production. The downside risk for prices is limited by the rising costs of nickel pig iron, which contributes to support prices above US$ 17,000.

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·                  REVENUES

In 2011, our operating revenues achieved an all-time high of US$ 60.389 billion, 29.9% above the previous record of US$ 46.481 billion in 2010.

The increase in revenues was primarily due to the effect of higher prices, which added US$ 10.943 billion, driven mostly by iron ore — US$ 8.215 billion — and pellets — US$ 1.360 billion — while greater sales volumes contributed US$ 2.965 billion.

Revenues totaled US$ 14.755 billion in 4Q11, a decrease of US$ 1.986 billion, or 11.9%, compared to 3Q11. The effect of lower iron ore prices, US$ 2.077 billion, was only partially offset by larger volumes, US$ 424 million. The realized price of iron ore resulted from a more diversified menu of pricing options, all of them referred to spot price indices, tending to reflect more contemporaneous market prices.

Sales of bulk materials — iron ore, pellets, manganese ore, ferroalloys, metallurgical and thermal coal — represented 74.4% of operating revenues, in line with 74.2% in 2010. The share of base metals decreased to 15.9% from 17.6% in 2010, due to the sale of the aluminum assets in February 2011. Sales of fertilizers represented 5.9%, above the 4.0% mark for last year. Logistics services contributed 2.9% and other products 0.9%.

In 2011, sales to Asia represented 52.8% of total revenues, slightly below 53.3% in 2010. The share of sales to clients in the Americas was 25.2%, up from 23.6% last year, due to increased sales to the US and Brazil. Revenues from shipments to Europe were 18.9%, down from 19.2% in 2010, while the rest of the world contributed 3.1%.

On a country basis, China was responsible for 32.4% of the 2011 revenues, Brazil 18.1%, Japan 12.0%, Germany 6.3%, South Korea 4.4% and Italy 3.2%.

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Table 2 - OPERATING REVENUE BREAKDOWN

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Table 3 - OPERATING REVENUE BY DESTINATION

·                  COSTS

In 4Q11, costs of goods sold (COGS) were down by US$ 227 million on a quarter-on-quarter basis, amounting to US$ 6.025 billion. In net terms, if we discount the effect of exchange rate variation(2), volumes and depreciation charges, COGS increased US$ 20 million when compared to 3Q11. Higher costs with personnel were the main reason for the increase, contributing with US$ 72 million. The rise in these costs reflected the two-year collective agreement with our employees in Brazil.

Outsourced services and materials (equipment, parts and inputs), which also tend to reflect more intensely cyclical cost pressures, decreased by US$ 62 million and US$ 46 million, respectively, once the effects of exchange rate variation and lower volumes are excluded.

Reflecting a tight labor market, personnel costs reached US$ 891 million, representing 14.8% of COGS, against US$ 819 million in 3Q11. The two-year collective agreement of our employees in Brazil increased costs by US$ 63 million, US$ 21 million related to the annual wage rise of 8.6% in November 2011, and the remaining US$ 42 million due to the retention bonus, which is being accrued linearly over a 2-year period. The demand from the execution of our large pipeline of projects caused an increase in our employee numbers to 79,646 in December 2011 from 77,055 in September 2011, thus raising costs by US$ 10 million.

(2)  COGS currency exposure in 4Q11 was made up as follows: 54% Brazilian reais, 19% US dollars, 18% Canadian dollars, 3% Australian dollars, 1% Indonesian rupiah and 5% other currencies.

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Expenditures with outsourced services totaled US$ 1.044 billion — 17.3% of COGS — against US$ 1.202 billion in 3Q11. The US$ 158 million cost decrease was chiefly caused by the appreciation of the US dollar (US$ 83 million), lower volumes (US$ 13 million) and a seasonal decrease in operational services and railway transportation (US$ 62 million).

Cost of materials — 14.7% of COGS — was US$ 887 million, down 13.5% against 3Q11. Excluding the effects of lower volumes (US$ 10 million) and currency price changes (cost decrease of US$ 82 million), costs of materials decreased by US$ 46 million vis-à-vis 3Q11, mainly reflecting the effect of a 10% decrease in the run-of-mine (ROM) handling, which consequently affected the production inputs, such as explosives and grinding bodies.

In 4Q11, expenses with energy consumption accounted for 12.5% of COGS, amounting to US$ 756 million, and showing a decrease of 6.8% when compared to the previous quarter. Costs of electricity consumption were US$ 220 million, 5.6% lower than 3Q11. Exchange rate variation and lower volumes led to decreases in costs of US$ 18 million and US$ 7 million, respectively. On the other hand, a US$ 12 million cost increase was due to the higher production at our Sudbury operations.

Expenditures with fuel and gas decreased 7.3%, reaching US$ 536 million, mainly reflecting the exchange rate variation of US$ 47 million.

The cost of purchasing products from third parties amounted to US$ 562 million — 9.3% of COGS — against US$ 608 million in 3Q11.

The purchase of iron ore and pellets amounted to US$ 425 million, against US$ 331 million in the previous quarter. The volume of iron ore bought from smaller miners was 2.2 million metric tons (Mt) in 4Q11 compared to 2.4 Mt in 3Q11. The acquisition of pellets from our joint ventures amounted to 780,000 metric tons in this quarter.

Expenditures with the purchase of base metals products declined to US$ 90 million from US$ 194 million in 3Q11, impacted by lower nickel and copper ore purchases. We bought 1,800 t of nickel intermediates, against 2,400 t in 3Q11, and copper ore purchases totaled 8,300 t, down from 11,300 t in 3Q11.

Costs with shared services were down US$ 8 million to US$ 97 million in 4Q11, which is explained by the effects of exchange rate variation.

Depreciation and amortization — 17.5% of COGS — amounted to US$ 1.057 billion, against US$ 923 million in 3Q11. The depreciation of nickel operations increased by US$ 82 million, mainly due to the ramp-up of Sudbury operations, which have a relatively higher depreciation cost.

Other operational costs reached US$ 731 million against US$ 759 million in 3Q11. Exchange rate variation and lower leasing fees for our pelletizing plants reduced costs by US$ 71 million and US$ 24 million, respectively, which were partially offset by (i) the effect of the 8.6% wage hike in Brazil, which added US$ 16 million in profit sharing for our employees in Brazil, (ii) greater expenses with royalties (US$ 12 million) and demurrage charges (US$ 7 million).

Sales, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) totaled US$ 827 million in 4Q11, US$ 173 million above 3Q11. Greater SG&A expenses were primarily caused by a rise in administrative expenses (US$ 243 million), which were partially offset by lower selling expenses (US$ 70 million). Administrative expenses were impacted mainly by higher services and personnel expenses of US$ 112 million and US$ 44 million, respectively.

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Research and development (R&D), which reflects our investment in creating long-term growth opportunities, amounted to US$ 529 million, US$ 89 million higher than 3Q11(3). In 2011, R&D amounted to US$ 1.674 billion, 91% higher than 2010.

Other operational expenses reached US$ 1.023 billion, against US$ 643 million in 3Q11, mainly due to the increase related to pre-operating and start-up expenses (US$ 160 million), which reached US$ 488 million in 4Q11. Pre-operating costs related to VNC, Onça Puma, Moatize and Rio Colorado were US$ 136 million, US$ 97 million, US$ 61 million and US$ 16 million, respectively.

Expenses with non-scheduled maintenance of some of Vale Fertilizantes’ plants led to charges to idle capacity of US$ 72 million in 4Q11. In addition, there was a write-down of US$ 172 million for contingencies, mainly in our Australian coal operations.

Table 4 - COGS BREAKDOWN

·                  OPERATING INCOME

In 2011, operating income, as measured by adjusted EBIT, set an annual record of US$ 30.112 billion, 38.8% higher than the previous record of US$ 21.695 billion in 2010. Excluding the non-recurring gain from the sale of aluminum assets in 1Q11, adjusted EBIT totaled US$ 28.599 billion in 2011. Operating margin also reached an all-time high of 48.5% in 2011, excluding the non-recurring gain, greater than our most recent record of 47.9% in 2010.

In 4Q11, operating income was US$ 6.023 billion, lower than the US$ 8.373 billion in the previous quarter. The main reasons for the decrease of US$ 2.350 billion were the impact of (i) lower sales prices, US$ 2.623

(3)  This is an accounting figure. In the Investment section of this press release we disclose the amount of US$ 579 million for research and development, computed in accordance with the financial disbursement in 4Q11.

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billion, (ii) higher COGS, US$ 219 million, which were offset by a positive exchange rate effect on COGS of US$ 421 million, (iii) higher SG&A, US$ 173 million, (iv) higher pre-operating and start-up expenses, US$ 160 million, and (v) higher contingencies, US$ 139 million. Those negative impacts were partly offset by the higher sales volume effect of US$ 637 million.

The adjusted EBIT margin was 41.7% in 4Q11 versus 51.2% in the previous quarter.

·                  NET EARNINGS

In 2011, Vale achieved a new record in net earnings, at US$ 22.885 billion, equal to US$ 4.36 per share on a fully diluted basis. It represents an increase of 32.6% from the previous record of US$ 17.264 billion, equal to US$ 3.25 per share, reached in 2010.

In 4Q11, net earnings decreased to US$ 4.672 billion, equal to US$ 0.90 per share on a fully diluted basis, from US$ 4.935 billion in 3Q11.

Net financial expenses decreased to US$ 408 million in 4Q11, from US$ 634 million in the previous quarter. Financial revenues totaled US$ 139 million, lower than the US$ 188 million of 3Q11, while financial expenses declined to US$ 547 million from US$ 822 million in the previous quarter.

The mark-to-market effect of the shareholders’ debentures caused a non-cash charge of US$ 72 million in 4Q11.

The net effect of the mark-to-market of the transactions with derivatives had a positive impact on earnings of US$ 46 million in 4Q11, against a negative charge of US$ 568 million in 3Q11. These transactions produced a net positive cash flow impact of US$ 334 million.

The mark-to-market of the currency and interest rate swaps, structured to convert debt denominated in other currencies into US dollars to protect our cash flow from exchange rate volatility, produced a negative non-cash effect of US$ 46 million in 4Q11, but a positive cash flow impact of US$ 224 million.

Nickel derivatives operations had a positive non-cash effect of US$ 90 million on net earnings in 4Q11 and a positive cash flow impact of US$ 98 million.

The derivative transactions related to bunker oil, structured to minimize the volatility of the cost of maritime freight, had a positive non-cash impact of US$ 2 million, with a positive impact of US$ 12 million on our cash flow.

Because there was only a slight depreciation of Vale’s functional currency, the Brazilian real, against the US dollar(4), in 4Q11, foreign exchange and monetary variations caused a negative impact on our net earnings of US$ 108 million, against US$ 2.191 billion in 3Q11, when there was a sharp depreciation of the Brazilian real.

Equity income totaled US$ 167 million in 4Q11, against US$ 282 million in the last quarter. The non-consolidated affiliates in the bulk materials business were the major contributors with US$ 244 million, followed by logistics with US$ 25 million. Base metals and other investments caused a negative effect on net earnings of US$ 12 million and US$ 90 million, respectively.

Individually, the greatest contributors to equity income were Samarco (US$ 186 million), MRS (US$ 29 million) and Hispanobras (US$ 25 million).

(4)  From the beginning to the end of the 4Q11 period, the Brazilian real depreciated 1.1% against the US dollar.

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·                  CASH GENERATION

In 2011, we reached a new record for cash generation, as measured by the adjusted EBITDA, of US$ 35.272 billion, 35.1% higher than our previous record of US$ 26.116 billion in 2010. Excluding the non-recurring gain of US$ 1.513 billion in 1Q11, adjusted EBITDA for 2011 amounts to US$ 33.759 billion, also an all-time high figure.

In 4Q11, Vale’s adjusted EBITDA was US$ 7.396 billion, 23.2% lower than the previous quarter, which was mainly due to lower sales prices.

Dividends received from non-consolidated affiliates were US$ 205 million, with Samarco (US$ 112 million), MRS (US$ 48 million) and Itabrasco (US$ 38 million) being the major contributors.

Before R&D expenditures and others which reduced adjusted EBITDA, the share of bulk materials in cash generation decreased to 88.3% in 4Q11 from 90.1% in 3Q11, while base metals increased to 8.8% from 6.5% in the previous quarter. The share of fertilizers was 2.5%, and logistics, 0.4%.

Table 5 - QUARTERLY ADJUSTED EBITDA

Table 6 - ADJUSTED EBITDA BY BUSINESS AREA

·                  INVESTMENTS

·                  Organic growth

Our growth strategy prioritizes the exploitation of opportunities for organic growth, focusing on the diversification by product and geography, with world-class and low-cost assets able to create value across the cycles. Our project portfolio involves both investment-based demand products such as iron ore, pellets, coal and copper, as well as consumption-based demand products, such as nickel and fertilizers. Therefore,

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the profile of our portfolio positions us to meet the needs stemming from the long-term growth dynamics of emerging market economies.

The Brazilian demand for fertilizers has been expanding at 5.7% per year over the last twenty years and, given the potential of its agricultural production, it is expected to remain on the growth track for the long-term. This suggests the large potential of value creation of our investments in the fertilizer business, which takes advantage of the opportunities offered by the Brazilian market.

Vale invested US$ 6.686 billion, excluding acquisitions, in 4Q11. Capital expenditure on organic growth totaled US$ 4.692 billion, out of which US$ 4.112 billion was dedicated to project execution, US$ 579 million to research and development (R&D) and US$ 1.995 billion to the maintenance of existing operations.

Expenditures with R&D in 4Q11 included US$ 235 million in mineral exploration, US$ 298 million in conceptual, pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, and US$ 47 million to develop new processes, technological innovations and adaptation of technologies.

In 2011, investments — excluding acquisitions — totaled US$ 17.994 billion, with a significant increase of 42% over the US$ 12.705 billion invested in 2010, however still below budget due to challenges in project execution. Out of the amount disbursed in 2011, US$ 11.684 billion was allocated to the development of projects, US$ 1.742 billion to R&D and US$ 4.568 billion to stay-in-business.

Investments in corporate social responsibility reached US$ 1.488 billion, US$ 1.030 billion of which was destined for environmental protection and US$ 457 million for social projects.

Investments of US$ 10.247 billion were made in the bulk materials business, US$ 4.082 billion in base metals, US$ 1.347 million in fertilizers, US$ 820 million in power generation, US$ 460 million in steel projects, US$ 446 million in logistics services for general cargo, and US$ 592 million in corporate activities and other business segments.

Table 7 - TOTAL INVESTMENT BY CATEGORY

Table 8 - TOTAL INVESTMENT BY BUSINESS AREA