New raw material promises to revolutionize mining: discover Pellet Feed, the new generation “green mineral”, which brings several advantages and potential to boost Brazil in the mineral sector
With the steel industry’s growing demand for sustainable solutions, Brazil, the world’s second largest iron ore producer, is gaining international prominence thanks to a new product: direct reduction pellet feed (DRPF), also known as “green ore”. This innovative raw material has the potential to transform the mining sector by offering a greener alternative that is aligned with global sustainability and energy efficiency requirements – the future of global mining.
Meet Pellet Feed – considered the future of mining
Finer, richer and with low levels of impurities, this green ore is used to produce iron ore pellets. which, when used in a direct reduction process in the steel industry, reduce carbon emissions by up to 50%. Considering that this is the industrial sector with the highest global release of CO2 into the atmosphere, this is an extremely significant impact.
For exceptional quality and a promising alternative to decarbonisation, there is currently a high global demand for direct reduction pellet feed, making it the future of mining. The Middle East and Europe, for example, are already giving full priority to green ore. However, there are few producers and Brazil is one of them, with production expanding.
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In Minas Gerais, Cedro Mineração, specialized in the extraction, processing and sale of iron ore, intends to produce more than 25 million tons of pellet feed per year by 2030, becoming a reference in the sector.
The mining company, which focuses on sustainability as its central axis, aims to have 100% of its production in PFRD by the end of the decade.
Advantages of 'green ore''
According to the chairman of the board of Cedro Participações, Lucas Kallas, the company is focused on migrating from the production of sinter feed (another iron ore product) to pellet feed, especially for direct reduction.
There is a growing demand for technological solutions in the future of mining for cleaner and more efficient steel production, which has led to significant investments to transform its production compatible with direct reduction processes.
The fundamentals of Cedro's strategy are clear and justify the billion-dollar investment. In addition to market differentiation due to sustainability, pellet feed production guarantees, for example, transportation savings, since the concentration of ore is greater than in sinter feed (67% versus 60% in SF), in addition to a cleaner operation, with operational gains.
However, PFRD is mainly good for sales. With such a high grade and low levels of impurities, such as silica (1%) and alumina (0,5%), green ore can be sold at higher prices than traditional iron ore.
The executive highlights that pellet feed meets the rigorous requirements of the modern steel industry, which values energy efficiency and the quality of the final product. This level of purity is a significant advance compared to traditional products on the market.
Mining Future to Reach $50,6 Billion with Pellet Feed
The iron ore market for direct reduction is expected to reach $50,6 billion by 2031, an incredible increase from the 2020 figure of $21,8 billion.
Consequently, the national economy also benefits. In recent years, Brazil has been losing market share and competitiveness in the global iron ore market compared to the largest producer, Australia.
In the current context of energy transition, however, a new window of competitiveness opens with the PFRD, allowing the country to position itself to gain market share. After all, pellet feed production requires a lot of energy, and clean energy, which Brazil has on a large scale.