Vale opens model plant in Itabira with AI applied to operations and enhances safety and efficiency

The municipality of Itabira, about 100 km from Belo Horizonte (MG), where Vale was founded 84 years ago, has been chosen to host the company’s first high-tech plant, marking the beginning of a new operating model driven by data intelligence.

The Conceição 2 plant has been modernised to integrate processes using Artificial Intelligence (AI), expand automation, and reduce people’s exposure to hazardous activities. With a capacity of 11.2 million tpy, the unit will serve as a benchmark for expanding the model to other company operations.

“The model plant is more than a project: it represents a new way of operating, based on the application of advanced technologies that redefine standards of efficiency, sustainability, and competitiveness in mining. This initiative positions Vale at the forefront of the most modern and innovative iron ore processing plants in the world.

The Model Plant programme integrates technologies and robust process governance, creating a safer, more predictable, and more efficient environment, with highly skilled people”, says Carlos Medeiros, Vale’s Vice President of Operations.

The initiative is part of Vale’s mining strategy for the future, based on more connected and sustainable operations, with technology and innovation as drivers of safety, efficiency, and value generation. The implementation of the Model Plant in Itabira took 1.5 years and included 51 solutions to eliminate bottlenecks and improve operations.

More than 100 monitoring cameras were installed across the plant complex, along with the automation of approximately 7300 instruments, including new advanced measurement devices and sensors. Data intelligence is also used to control, manage, and optimise more than 400 variables across all stages of the ore processing workflow.

Operating flows were also reviewed to anticipate failures and avoid unplanned shutdowns. “The modernisation of the new plant enables a more integrated, highly monitored, and safer operation. The system includes an artificial intelligence layer that supervises hundreds of variables and performs real-time adjustments to the production process according to the characteristics of the ore and the product,” adds Medeiros.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/15062026/vale-opens-model-plant-in-itabira-with-ai-applied-to-operations-and-enhances-safety-and-efficiency/