Vale's New York-listed shares closed up 0.24% yesterday, however, but were 1.6% lower after hours.

Authorities had pushed for certain Vale dismissals on Friday. More than 300 people are dead or still missing since Vale's Feijão dam burst on January 26.

Meanwhile, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was lower this afternoon after global market indices were mixed yesterday.

The gold price has tumbled below US$1,300 an ounce but has regained a couple of dollars to $1,288/oz earlier.

Mining stocks were among those showing the biggest declines in afternoon Australian trade.

Lithium producer Orocobre (ASX: ORE) had shed more than 6% at the time of writing and graphite miner Syrah Resources (ASX: SYR) was down 5.4%.

Metals and mining stocks had managed a slight gain of 0.45% in Toronto on Monday, where the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada's annual conference is in full swing.

Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX), which is continuing its push to merge with fellow gold major Newmont Mining, closed 1.65% higher.