Samarco Announces Use of New Automation Technology in Mining for Silica Verification Process in Iron Production

The Entire Iron Ore Production Chain Now Has Automation Technology That Has Made Samarco’s Mining Operations Much More Efficient and Faster, Drastically Reducing the Time Required for This Process

Samarco announced, during last Tuesday (04/26), its new automation technology used in the iron ore production chain to verify the presence of silica much faster and more efficiently, thus ensuring even more innovation and efficiency possible within the company’s operations in the mining sector in Brazil over the coming months. 

Verification of Silica Present in Iron Production Is Now Done Based on Automation Technology in the Company’s Mining Operations

The verification stage of the presence of silica within the mixture carried out in the production of iron ore is one of the most important tasks for the final quality of the product, but it needs to have great accuracy for a better efficiency. Thus, Samarco announced a new automation technology that is already being used in the iron beneficiation processes in the company’s mining operations in Brazil, as a way to speed up the process and ensure more quality. 

Thus, this stage is now being carried out through this automation technology by Samarco’s physicochemical laboratory in the Germano Complex, in Mariana (MG), and the equipment used for the procedure is a Multifunctional Particle Analyzer (AMP), developed in partnership with the company IVTEK. In this way, the company has managed to reduce the operation time in the iron production chain from 2 hours to 20 minutes, in addition to having much greater control with the help of the technology to ensure the final quality of the product. 

The company commented that this is not only a strategy to ensure more productivity but also aims mainly at delivering quality to customers at the end of the iron beneficiation process. In a statement, Samarco stated: “The analyses performed automatically show, with greater speed and precision, the best configuration of process stages, as well as the ideal quantity and how these inputs should be applied. This procedure also results in more efficiency in the production of pellets. The initiative is aligned with Samarco’s cultural trait of innovation.”

Use of Automation Technology in Silica Verification in Iron Ore Is Another Strategy by Samarco for the Initiative Movement for Innovation 

During March 2022, Samarco announced its latest innovation and technology project within its operations in the mining segment, the Movement for Innovation. Thus, the company has been adopting a series of more efficient measures and alternatives for its production chain and increasingly seeks to ensure more final quality in the product, tying this characteristic to a more agile and profitable production for the company. 

In this way, the project promotes a series of actions to support employees in understanding what innovation means for Samarco, as well as to facilitate the adoption of institutional practices that contribute to new solutions, among them, the new automation technology used in iron production. The removal of silica from the ore is one of the most important stages of the raw material’s production chain, and this new technology has been strongly contributing to a more efficient operation in the mining segment. 

Now, the company has stated that it intends to continue its efforts in pursuit of automating its operations in mining, as the use of technology has been ensuring many more benefits in this mineral beneficiation process throughout Brazil.