May 20, 2020 - The court denied the defendants' motion to dismiss.

February 21, 2020 - A motion to dismiss the consolidated complaint was filed.

October 25, 2019 - A consolidated complaint was filed.

January 28, 2019 - An investor in shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York over alleged violations of Federal Securities Laws by Vale S.A. in connection with certain allegedly false and misleading statements made between April 13, 2018 and January 28, 2019.

According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges on behalf of purchasers of Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) common shares between April 13, 2018 and January 28, 2019, that the defendants violated Federal Securities Laws.

More specifically, the plaintiff claims that between April 13, 2018 and January 28, 2019, the defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that Vale had failed to adequately assess the risk and damage potential of a dam breach at its Feijão iron ore mine, that Vale’s programs to mitigate health and safety incidents were inadequate, that consequently, several people were killed and hundreds more were reported missing after Vale’s dam at its Feijão mine was breached, and that as a result, defendants’ statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. Brazil based Vale S.A., together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells iron ore and iron ore pellets for use as raw materials in steelmaking in Brazil and internationally. Vale S.A. reported that its annual Total Revenue rose from over $94.63 billion in 2016 to over $108.53 billion in 2017 and that its Net Income increased from over $13.31 billion in 2016 to over $17,62 billion in 2017.

On January 25, 2019, Reuters recounted how hundreds of people are missing after a tailings dam burst at Vale's Feijao iron ore mine in Brazil. According to the report, the mine was in the process of being decommissioned.

Then, on January 26, 2019, Reuters said that Brazil's National Mining Agency had instructed the company to stop all operations at its Feijao mine and that prosecutors requested over $1.3 billion in Vale's accounts to be frozen to pay for damages, with the expectation that more funds would be frozen in the future. Shares of Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) declined from $14.71 per share on January 14, 2019 to as low as $11.08 per share on January 28, 2019.