Northern Mining reduces the cost of iron ore concentrate

Miners of the Pershotravnevy open pit at Northern Mining and Processing Plant (Northern GOK) are working under a new production scheme that reduces production costs while maintaining the proper quality to produce competitive iron ore. This is stated in the report of Metinvest.Media.

To ensure the production of high-quality concentrate at a lower cost, the miners of the open pit mine optimized cargo flows from the southeast side by creating a transport connection between the -130 m horizon and the intake well of crushing plant No. 3 at the -193 m horizon.

«The innovation made it possible to reduce the average monthly distance of ore transportation by 700 m, which significantly affected the costs of diesel fuel and large-sized tires for technological transport,» the message states.

Iron ore from the southeastern direction meets the required quality indicators. This allows concentrators to produce high-quality A-1 concentrate with an iron content of 68%+. Its cost is lower compared to what was previously produced using a mix of ore from Pershotravnevy and Gannivsky open pits.

In addition to the southeastern side, miners are developing lower horizons in the north and west. As for the western side, operational efficiency projects have already been developed. They will be implemented from January 1, 2024. This should bring savings by reducing the distance of rock transportation and the corresponding cost optimization.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Northern GOK has launched the production of homogeneous pellets with an iron content of more than 65%. The company’s technologists have implemented operational improvements in the concentrate and pellet production chain to ensure that the Northern GOK’s iron ore meets the requirements of European steelmakers.