Tag Archives: cement

Australian government backs mining and metal sector decarbonising initiative

A new Cooperative Research Centre focused on integrating green energy sources such as hydrogen, ammonia and solar into high-heat and high-emission manufacturing processes for products like steel, aluminium and cement has won Australia government backing.

The Heavy Industry Low-carbon Transition Cooperative Research Centre (HILT CRC), to be led by the University of Adelaide, has been provided with A$39 million ($29 million) of funding through the CRC Grants program. It is also backed by an additional A$175.7 million in funding and in-kind support from research and industry partners such as Alcoa, Rio Tinto Aluminium, South32, Roy Hill, Fortescue Metals Group, the Australian National University and the CSIRO.

South Australia Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Christian Porter, said the CRC would help to secure the future of heavy industries right across the country by helping them to lower costs and establish a reputation as exporters of high-quality, low-carbon, value-added products.

“In order to remain internationally competitive, it is crucial that our heavy industries begin the transition to lower cost and cleaner energy technology to secure the long-term future of their operations,” Minister Porter said. “By connecting those industries with our best and brightest minds from within our major research institutions – coupled with the significant funding that’s now available to fast-track this work – we expect real-world solutions can be delivered within the 10-year life of the CRC.”

Dr David Cochrane, who is Technology Lead at core CRC partner South32 and also an industry leader of the HILT CRC, said: “The HILT CRC will play an important role in transitioning to a low-carbon future by creating a framework for industry to collaborate, sharing knowledge and experience while lowering the risk of trialling technology.

“For South32, we have recently set medium-term targets to halve our operational emissions by 2035 as we transition to net zero by 2050 and initiatives like the HILT CRC are part of our plan to achieve these targets.”

Susan Jeanes, who is Chair-elect of the HILT CRC, said: “Decarbonising Australia’s heavy industry will position it to be competitive in the rapidly developing, global low carbon markets for green iron and aluminium products that have higher value than our current exports. These new markets are being driven by our trading partners in countries like China, Japan and Europe, which are introducing a range of financial measures to meet their carbon targets, such as EU’s Carbon Border Tax.

“Our mineral resources geographically co-exist around the continent with our first-class renewable energy resources making decarbonising more competitive here than in other parts of the world.”

Adbri wins cement, lime contract extension from BHP for Olympic Dam

Adelaide-based Adbri says it has won a four-year contract extension from BHP to keep supplying cement and lime to its Olympic Dam polymetallic operation in South Australia.

The aggregate value of the contract represents approximately A$160 million ($117 million) in revenue for the group over the full six-year term, it said.

Adbri, which has 160 plants and facilities across Australia, says the extension is in line with the existing contract terms and runs through to mid-2026, marking a 20-year supply relationship with BHP.

Adbri CEO, Nick Miller, said: “We are pleased to extend our long-term relationship with BHP at its Olympic Dam project, which demonstrates the strength of our integrated cement and lime position as well as our high quality and cost competitive product offering.

“We thank BHP for supporting a home-grown manufacturer over an imported product which protects local jobs and benefits the broader South Australian economy.”

Hindalco achieves aluminium industry first with red mud utilisation

Hindalco Industries has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UltraTech Cement, India’s largest manufacturer of cement and concrete, to deliver 1.2 Mt/y of red mud to UltraTech’s 14 plants located across seven states. This agreement will see Hindalco become the world’s first company to achieve 100% red mud utilisation across three of its refineries, it says.

Red mud generated in the alumina manufacturing process is rich in iron oxides, along with alumina, silica and alkali, with the cement industry, Hindalco says, having developed the capability to process red mud as a replacement for mined minerals such as laterite and lithomarge in its process.

Hindalco is supplying red mud to UltraTech Cement plants where it has proved to be an effective substitute for mined materials, successfully replacing up to 3% of clinker raw mix volume, according to the company.

“Use of red mud reduces the cement industry’s dependence on natural resources and promotes a circular economy,” Hindalco said.

Hindalco’s alumina refineries are currently supplying 250,000 t/mth of bauxite residue to cement companies, making Hindalco the world’s first company to have enabled such large scale commercial application of bauxite residue. In the current year, Hindalco aims to achieve 2.5 Mt of bauxite residue utilisation, which will be another global milestone, it says.

Satish Pai, Managing Director of Hindalco, said: “Hindalco has been working with cement companies to develop high-grade inputs for the construction industry. Hindalco has built a strong customer base and supplies red mud to over 40 cement plants every month. We have achieved 100% red mud utilisation at three of our refineries and our vision is to achieve zero-waste alumina production across our operations. Hindalco’s actions underscore our commitment to embracing solutions that have the potential to deliver long-term sustainability impact and transform the future.”

Globally, 160 Mt of red mud is produced annually and stored in large tracts of land which is a serious industry challenge, Hindalco says. To find a sustainable solution, Hindalco has invested in infrastructure and collaborated with cement companies, with UltraTech Cement being a key partner.

KC Jhanwar, Managing Director of UltraTech Cement, said: “UltraTech has been among the early adopters in India on the use of alternative raw materials and fuels in manufacturing and invested to build storage, handling and processing facilities. Use of waste like red mud as an alternative raw material for manufacturing cement requires infrastructure and process modification to ensure a win-win for both business and the environment.”

Last year, UltraTech consumed about 15.73 Mt of industrial waste as alternate raw material and about 300,000 t as alternative fuel in its kilns.

Jhanwar added: “With an annual supply of 1.2 Mt of red mud from Hindalco, we expect to conserve more than 1 Mt of mined natural resources like laterite in our manufacturing process. Enhancing our contribution to the circular economy by strategically increasing the use of waste as raw material and fuel in the cement manufacturing process is in line with our aim to achieve our long-term sustainability goals.”

FLSmidth notes sustainability and digital mining developments in Q2 results

FLSmidth’s June quarter saw an improvement in revenue and profitability as the company’s Mining and Cement divisions continued to perform strongly.

The company’s order intake for the June quarter amounted to DKK5 billion ($752 million), down 2% from the same period a year ago. Mining order intake, specifically, declined 7%, mainly due to a lower capital order intake, the company said. This included an order of around DKK375 million from Rio Tinto for its Koodaideri iron ore project.

During the quarter, the company also completed the acquisition of IMP Automation.

FLSmidth’s order backlog stood at DKK16.8 billion by the end of June, up 16% from the same time last year.

Revenue increased 16% year-on-year in the quarter to DKK5.5 billion on high activity level, while earnings before interest taxes and amortisation came in at DKK487 million, up 28% year-on-year.

FLSmidth Group CEO, Thomas Schulz, said: “The second (June) quarter showed a strong performance with improved revenue and profitability, driven by both Mining and Cement. Following a slow start to the year, we have been successful at converting backlog to revenue in the second quarter. In close cooperation with our customers, we have continued to deliver on our vision to provide sustainable productivity enhancement.”

Schulz continued: “Our success with both service and capital orders, demonstrates our customers’ confidence in our ability to enhance their productivity. This is supported by an increased push for sustainable solutions that ties in well with our position, capabilities and track record.”

In the company’s Mining division, Schulz said the company saw increased interest for new technologies such as dry stack tailings, but also a general need to reduce water consumption in the production process. The company said the mining market remained robust.

The company added on the mining market: “Equipment demand continues to evolve around replacement and brownfield projects, with select greenfield opportunities. Miners are attentive of rising global issues and remain cautious on large and high-risk investments. The long-term pipeline for larger projects is encouraging, but most projects are currently not reaching further than the engineering/prefeasibility stage.”

It continued: “Customers across regions and commodities are increasingly demanding digitalised solutions to improve performance, reduce operating costs and maximise safety in operations. Similarly, customers show increased interest in technology to obtain a more sustainable production, not least our effective solutions for tailings management given the latest issues with tailings dams failures and the related environmental impact.”

Adelaide Brighton cements contract extension with OZ Minerals at Prominent Hill

ASX-listed Adelaide Brighton has announced the signing of a contract with OZ Minerals for the continuation of cement supply to the Prominent Hill copper-gold operation in South Australia.

The contract period is for a five-year term with options to extend, Adelaide Brighton said.

In addition to the supply of cement, Adelaide Brighton will also supply aggregate and sand from the company’s Sellicks Hill Quarry and Price sand operation as well as auxiliary logistics services, it said.

Adelaide Brighton CEO, Nick Miller, said: “The contract, which now also includes aggregate and sand supply for the Prominent Hill operation, reflects the company’s competitive offering of a broad range of products in the South Australian market.”

Prominent Hill is a copper-gold mining operation in northern South Australia, which is made up of the Malu open-pit mine – which concluded operations last year – the Ankata and Malu underground deposits and a conventional crushing, grinding and flotation processing plant.