Vale and ABB have signed a strategic alliance to expand the use of automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and digitalization across Vale’s iron ore operations in Brazil, aiming to improve safety, productivity and sustainability.
The partnership builds on the technology deployed at Vale’s Conceicao II Model Plant in Itabira, Minas Gerais, which is being used as a reference for the company’s broader mining of the future strategy. Vale plans to gradually replicate the technologies developed at the plant across other iron ore processing facilities.
The 11.2 mln tons per year Conceicao II complex has more than 100 monitoring cameras and over 7,000 automated instruments. Data intelligence is used to monitor and optimize more than 400 variables across the ore-processing chain, while operating flows have been redesigned to help anticipate failures and reduce unplanned shutdowns.
Since implementation in 2024, the plant has recorded a 25pct increase in productivity, a 40pct increase in premium direct-reduction ore production and a 26pct reduction in iron losses in tailings. The increased automation has also reduced the need for manual intervention, improving operational safety.
Under the expanded alliance, Vale and ABB will work to deploy a consistent approach to automation, electrification and digitalization across Vale’s operations, with a focus on productivity, energy efficiency, process predictability and safer working conditions.