[Vale sustainable sand: prolonging road life and reducing road laying costs] A study conducted in collaboration between Vale and the Itabila Campus of the Federal University of Ita Juba in Minas Gerais, Brazil, over the past five years shows that Vale's sustainable sand products (obtained from the iron ore production process in Minas Gerais) can be used for road laying. Laboratory tests show that compared with roads paved with only traditional materials such as gravel, soil and sand, adding sand products extracted from iron ore tailings to each paving layer can prolong road life by 50 per cent and reduce road laying costs by 20 per cent.