Tag Archives: Marcello Spinelli

Vale adapts iron ore processing route to make sand product for construction sector

After seven years of research and investment of about BRL50 million ($8.9 million), Vale says it has developed a process for producing sand from its production processes with applications in the construction market.

After adaptation in the state of Minas Gerais’ iron ore operations, the sandy material, previously disposed in piles and dams, is now being processed and transformed into a product, following the same quality controls used in the production of iron ore. This year, around 250,000 t of sand has been processed and destined for sale or donation to be used in concrete, mortar, cement and road pavement.

According to Marcello Spinelli, Vale’s Executive Vice President for Iron Ore, the development of this product is the result of more sustainable operating practices.

“This action promotes a circular economy within our units and reduces the impact of tailings disposal for the environment and the society, in addition to being a reliable alternative for the construction industry, where the demand for sand is high,” he said.

Sustainable sand stock yard at Brucutu

Vale’s Sustainable Sand is considered a co-product of the iron ore production process. The material extracted in the form of rocks undergoes several physical processes in the plant, such as crushing, classification, grinding and concentration, until iron ore is obtained.

The innovation introduced by Vale lies in the concentration stage where the by-product of the iron ore processing is once more processed until it reaches the necessary quality to become sand for commercial use. In the traditional method, this material would become tailings and be destined to dams or piles. Every tonne of sand produced represents one less tonne of tailings being generated.

The sand resulting from the iron ore treatment is a 100% certified product, with high silica content and very low iron content, in addition to high chemical and granulometric uniformity.

According to Jefferson Corraide, Executive Manager of the Brucutu and Água Limpa Complex, the sand does not have hazardous characteristics in its composition.

“The mineral processing to obtain the sand is essentially physical, not altering the composition of the materials, so the product is not toxic,” Corraide said.

Recently, Vale’s sand had its application in concrete and mortar certified by three specialised laboratories in Brazil: Instituto de Pesquisas Tecnológicas, Falcão Bauer and ConsultareLabCon.

The properties of Vale sand are also being analysed by an independent study conducted by researchers from the University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute (Australia) and the University of Geneva (Switzerland), who are investigating whether alternative construction materials produced from mineral ores could become a sustainable source of sand while significantly reducing the volume of waste produced by mining. These researchers introduced the term “ore sand” to refer to this type of processed sand sourced as a co-product or by-product of mineral ores.

Precast concrete produced with Vale’s Sustainable Sand

Production scale

Vale has already committed to allocating more than 1 Mt of sand for sale or donation in 2022. Buyers are companies operating in four different regions in Brazil: Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, São Paulo and Brasília. It is estimated that, in 2023, production will reach 2 Mt.

Rogério Nogueira, Director of Ferrous Marketing, explained: “We are getting ready to scale up the sand destination even more from 2023. For this purpose, we have a team of professionals dedicated to this new business and adapting our operations to meet the market needs.”

Currently, Vale is producing sand for sale and donation at the Brucutu Mine, in São Gonçalo do Rio Abaixo (Minas Gerais).

Other mines of the company, also located in Minas Gerais, are in the process of obtaining environmental and mining approvals for sand production.

André Vilhena, Manager of New Businesses at Vale, said: “Our mines provide a sandy material that is rich in silica, which can be used in different industries. We are working with several institutions, including universities, research centres and Brazilian and foreign companies, to develop new solutions to give new destinations to iron ore tailings.”

In addition to using the existing infrastructure in the iron ore mines, Vale also has a railway and road network to transport the sand to markets in several Brazilian states. “With this activity, our main focus is on the sustainability of our iron ore operations, minimising the environmental liabilities, in addition to seeking to promote employment and income by means of new businesses,” Vilhena said.

Eco products

Vale has been carrying out tailings application studies since 2014. Last year, the company inaugurated the Pico Block Factory, the first pilot plant for construction products whose main raw material is tailings from mining activity. Installed at the Pico Mine, in the municipality of Itabirito (Minas Gerais), the factory promotes a circular economy in iron ore processing operation.

The Federal Center for Technological Education of Minas Gerais (CEFET-MG) provides technical cooperation with the Block Factory. Ten researchers from the institution are working on site during this period, including professors, laboratory technicians and graduates, undergraduates and technical course students. During the R&D period, the products will not be sold.

Another research initiative aims to develop the use of sand in pavement solutions in partnership with Itabira’s campus of the Federal University of Itajubá (Unifei). The focus is on the donation of sand for the pavement of local roads.

More sustainable mining

In addition to the Eco products line, Vale has other initiatives to make its mining more sustainable and reduce the generation of tailings. The company has been developing technology to increase the dry processing of its ores, which does not require the use of water. Currently, around 70% of Vale’s production is dry processed and this shall remain at this level when the production capacity of 400 Mt/y is reached and after the start-up of new projects. In 2015, this figure was 40%.

In Carajás, as the iron content is already high (above 65% Fe), the material is only crushed and screened to be classified by size (granulometry).

In Minas Gerais, in some mines, the average content is 40% Fe. By the conventional method, the ore is concentrated by means of processing with water to increase the iron content, with most of the tailings deposited in dams or pits. This is where another technology under implementation at Vale stands out: FDMS (Fines Dry Magnetic Separation). This technology sees the magnetic concentration of ores of low iron grade with no use of water, and therefore, with no need for dams.

Developed in Brazil by New Steel, a company acquired by Vale in 2018, this technology is already in use in a pilot plant in Minas Gerais. In 2023, the first commercial plant will start up in Vargem Grande, with a production capacity of 1.5 Mt/y and investment of up to $150 million.

Another technology which reduces the need of dams is tailings filtration and subsequent dry piling. Once the capacity of 400 Mt/y is reached, more than 60 Mt/y (or 15% of this total) will be processed in plants, where most of the tailings will be filtered and piled this way.

Vale has already opened a filtration plant in Vargem Grande and three more will be commissioned in the March quarter of 2022: one in Brucutu and two in Itabira. Only 15% of the production will continue to be processed by the conventional method, with wet concentration and disposal in dams or deactivated mine pits.

Vale and POSCO evaluating iron ore pellets, fines, briquettes place in low-carbon ironmaking

Vale has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with POSCO in which both agreed to pursue opportunities to develop ironmaking solutions focused on reducing CO2 emissions.

Vale and POSCO intend to develop solutions for decarbonisation in ironmaking and are under discussion to find the most suitable pathways by using Vale’s wide range of product portfolio, they said. This includes its high-grade iron ore products such as pellets, fines and briquettes, as a potential solution for reducing fossil fuel consumption and aim to help POSCO on its roadmap to reach carbon neutrality in its integrated steel production process by 2050.

Marcello Spinelli, Vale’s Executive Vice President, Iron Ore, and Hagdong Kim, POSCO’s Head of Steel Business Unit, attended the MoU virtual signing ceremony on November 4, 2021.

As per his speech, Spinelli said: “The decarbonisation pathway definition will be critical to set how the industry will meet Paris Agreement’s targets and deliver an important legacy to society and our planet. Vale is well positioned to lead the industry with our high-quality and world-class portfolio, and with innovative technologies.”

Kim added: “Both companies have the goal to achieve carbon net-zero by 2050, an important social responsibility that we must fulfil as members of society. Instead of trying alone, if we work together, we will create more synergy. By signing the MoU, I look forward to greater synergy between Vale and POSCO toward carbon neutrality.”

This initiative contributes to achieving Vale’s commitment to reduce 15% of net Scope 3 emissions by 2035. Additionally, Vale seeks to reduce its absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 33% by 2030 and achieve neutrality by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement.

Vale starts dry iron ore concentration pilot with New Steel technology

Vale has inaugurated its new dry pilot plant for processing iron ore in Minas Gerais, Brazil, as it continues to reduce its use of water in ore and waste processing.

The Brazilian technology, known as FDMS (Fines Dry Magnetic Separation), is unique and has been developed by New Steel – a company Vale acquired in late 2018.

The pilot plant, which cost $3 million, is the first step towards the construction of an industrial plant that will have a production capacity of 1.5 Mt/y. The investment in this project is near $100 million, with the commercial plant start-up scheduled for 2022, as the company announced back in February.

Vale estimates that, in 2024, 1% of all the company’s production will use this technology, whose patent is already recognised in 59 countries.

President of New Steel, Ivan Montenegro, said: “NS-03 is a semi-industrial plant to carry out tests on a pilot scale with different types of ore, allowing the definition of operational parameters for commercial-scale projects.”

Installed at Vale’s Ferrous Technology Center, in Nova Lima, the pilot plant is the second to start operating. Between 2015 and 2017, a unit operated at the Fábrica mine, also in Minas Gerais. The results allowed Vale to see the potential of the FDMS technology, it said, ultimately leading to Vale taking over New Steel.

The new pilot unit will be able to concentrate 30 t/h of ore using dry magnetic separation technology equipped with rare earth magnets.

Vale’s Executive Director of Ferrous, Marcello Spinelli, said New Steel puts the company at the “forefront” of investments in ore processing technology.

“We will continue to seek solutions that increase the safety of our operations,” he added.

With New Steel and its dry process technology, Vale estimates that, in 2024, 70% of production will come from dry or natural moisture processing, without adding water to the process and without using tailings dams. Today, the company produces 60% of iron ore using natural moisture processing.

By 2024, from the production using wet processing (30%), 16% will have filtered and dry-stacked tailings, with only 14% continuing to use the conventional method with wet concentration and tailings disposal in dams or deactivated extraction sites.

This transition will see Vale invest $1.8 billion in filtering and dry stacking in the coming years. The first units to use the technique will be Vargem Grande complex (in Nova Lima), Pico mine (in Itabirito), Cauê and Conceição mines (in Itabira), and Brucutu mine (in São Gonçalo do Rio Abaixo).

New Steel’s technology can deliver a concentrate with iron content up to 68% Fe from poor ore with content up to 40% Fe, depending on its chemical and mineralogical composition, according to Vale. Currently, this concentrate is produced by flotation, which uses water. In flotation, the tailings are usually disposed of in dams, but, with the dry concentration technology developed by New Steel, the tailings will be stacked.

Vale is studying methods to use these filtered cakes as raw materials for the civil construction industry, in addition to other initiatives, such as co-products.