The world’s biggest iron-ore miner is getting closer to snapping an equity-market drought that has stretched nine years. If its voluntary share-conversion is successful, Vale SA will be able to tap the stock market to fund investments rather than relying on debt, Chief Financial Officer Luciano Siani Pires said in an interview Thursday. The last time Vale sold stock was an $11.5-billion transaction in July 2008, at the time the biggest ever share offering by a Brazilian company.
