2.0.0.10 false Short-term investments 0208 - Disclosure - Short-term investments true false false false 1 usd $ false false USD Standard http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 0 USDEPS Divide http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance shares xbrli 0 2 Short-term investments [Abstract] 0 us-gaap_ShortTermInvestmentsAbstract us-gaap true na duration string No definition available. false false false false false true false false false false false false 1 false false false false 0 0 false false false No definition available. false 3 Short-term investments 1 vale_ShortTermInvestmentsTextBlock vale false na duration string Investments which are intended to be sold in the short term (usually less than one year or the normal operating cycle, and... false false false false false false false false false false false verboselabel false 1 false false false false 0 0   <div style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> <div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 12pt"><b>8       Short-term investments</b> </div> <div align="center"> <table style="font-size: 10pt; text-align: left" cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%">  <tr valign="bottom"> <td width="76%"> </td> <td width="5%"> </td> <td width="1%"> </td> <td width="5%"> </td> <td width="1%"> </td> <td width="5%"> </td> <td width="1%"> </td> <td width="5%"> </td> <td width="1%"> </td> </tr> <tr style="font-size: 8pt" valign="bottom"> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right" colspan="2" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000"><b>March 31, 2010</b></td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right" colspan="2" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000"><b>December 31, 2009</b></td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr style="font-size: 8pt" valign="bottom"> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right" colspan="2"><b>(unaudited)</b></td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> </tr>   <tr valign="bottom"> <td> <div style="margin-left:15px; text-indent:-15px">Time deposit </div></td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td align="right">12</td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td align="right">3,747</td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr style="font-size: 1px"> <td> <div style="margin-left:15px; text-indent:-15px">  </div></td> <td> </td> <td nowrap="nowrap" colspan="2" align="right" style="border-top: 3px double #000000"> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td nowrap="nowrap" colspan="2" align="right" style="border-top: 3px double #000000"> </td> <td> </td> </tr>  </table> </div> <div align="left" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 6pt; margin-left: 4%">Represent low risk investments with original due date over three-month. </div> </div>  <!-- Begin Block Tagged Note false false false Investments which are intended to be sold in the short term (usually less than one year or the normal operating cycle, and more than 90 days) including trading securities, available-for-sale securities, held-to-maturity securities, and other short-term investments. No authoritative reference available. false false 1 2 false UnKnown UnKnown UnKnown false true