Vale Launches First Pilot Plant for Construction Products Using Mining Waste as Raw Material

Written by Valdemar Medeiros

Published on 09/12/2020 at 13:06

Fabrica de blocos da Vale

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Vale Inaugurates the Pico Block Factory, the First Pilot Plant for Civil Construction Products, Whose Raw Material is Initially Mining Waste.

The factory of the mining company Vale installed at the Pico Mine, located in the municipality of Itabirito, MG, aims to promote the circular economy in mining operations, according to the mining company. Right after the testing phase, the expectation is that, each year, about 30 thousand tons of mining waste will no longer be dumped in dams or piles, to be reused in over three million precast products of wide application in the civil construction industry.

Vale’s Environmental Licensing Executive Manager Says This is the Company’s First Initiative to Reuse Mining Waste for the Civil Construction Industry

According to the Environmental Licensing Executive Manager, this is Vale’s first initiative in reusing mining waste for the civil construction industry. “In addition to making our operations safer and more sustainable, we want to promote the development of innovative solutions that create value for neighboring communities and society.” Said Rodrigo Dutra.

Innovation and Diversity

The block factory occupies exactly an area of 10,000 m² within the Pico Mine unit. “The plant was designed in modules to promote versatility in the development of various types of products for civil construction, such as transport infrastructure works, housing, and urbanization,” explains Laís Resende, one of the engineers responsible for Vale’s mining waste reutilization initiative.

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Vale Launches First Pilot Plant for Construction Products Using Mining Waste as Raw Material

Vale Inaugurates the Pico Block Factory, the First Pilot Plant for Civil Construction Products, Whose Raw Material is Initially Mining Waste.

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Vale’s Environmental Licensing Executive Manager Says This is the Company’s First Initiative to Reuse Mining Waste for the Civil Construction Industry

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Vale Launches First Pilot Plant for Construction Products Using Mining Waste as Raw Material

Vale Inaugurates the Pico Block Factory, the First Pilot Plant for Civil Construction Products, Whose Raw Material is Initially Mining Waste.

Read Also

Vale’s Environmental Licensing Executive Manager Says This is the Company’s First Initiative to Reuse Mining Waste for the Civil Construction Industry

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Four times faster than the Concorde, capable of taking passengers from New York to London in less than an hour at Mach 5.5, and with an engine that switches from turbojet to ramjet mid-flight at Mach 3.5, the Hermeus Quarterhorse went from paper to its first flight in just 19 months.

Under nearly 2 kilometers of ice in Antarctica, scientists have discovered an ancient landscape sculpted by rivers up to 60 million years ago, the size of Wales, preserved as a time capsule that could help predict the advance of ice towards the ocean.

She started by collecting oyster shells from restaurants and today she has already accumulated more than 10 tons to restore reefs, recover coastal habitats, and demonstrate how a common waste can become a tool for ocean conservation.

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