Brazilian miner Vale is investing $100mn to build an industrial plant for dry magnetic concentration of low-grade iron ore.
The plant’s capacity will be 1.5mn mt per year and is expected to start operations in 2022. Moreover, the facility will enable Vale to reduce dam usage and increase the safety of its operations, the company said in a statement.
The plant, which will be located in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, will be built using Fines Dry Magnetic Separation (FDMS) a type of technology developed by New Steel, a company Vale acquired in 2018.
The Brazilian miner estimates about 1pc of all its production will use this technology by 2024.
With New Steel, Vale estimates that about 70pc of its production will come from dry or natural moisture processing by 2024, without adding water to the process and without using tailings dams.
Currently, the company produces 60pc of iron ore using natural moisture processing, it noted.