XML 212 R185.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.21.1

Stockholders' equity - Shares in treasury (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Stockholders' equity
Assignment and transfer of shares	$ 14	$ 22
Treasury stocks
Stockholders' equity
Number of treasury shares re-issued as compensation	1,628,485	2,024,059
Assignment and transfer of shares	$ 14	$ 22

X

- Definition

Line items represent concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes of the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ifrs-full_DisclosureOfClassesOfShareCapitalLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	ifrs-full_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

The amount of assignment and transfer of shares.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	vale_AssignmentAndTransferOfShares
Namespace Prefix:	vale_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

The number of treasury shares re-issued as compensation.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	vale_NumberOfTreasurySharesReIssuedAsCompensation
Namespace Prefix:	vale_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_ComponentsOfEquityAxis=ifrs-full_TreasurySharesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: