Washing Iron Ore Adds Significant Value

A review of the performance and processes at one of our major iron ore washing plants in India has revealed that the plant is adding significant value for the customer. The OreMax system was recently installed for Adhunik Metaliks, part of the Adhunik Group who are one of the largest steel producers in India.

The 120tph plant is located in the Orissa region and was installed to process the raw iron ore that Adhunik source from a variety of mines in the Barbil region. One of the problems that the industry has faced in recent times has been the low quality of the raw iron ore available to processors such as Adhunik Metaliks. This has a direct impact on the quality of material used in steel manufacture with material typically having high levels of alumina and silica present and consequently a low FE( (Iron) content.

CDE spent considerable time developing this iron ore processing system which is based around their sand washing systems which have been installed for quarrying and recycling operations throughout the world. The Adhunik Group where one of the first companies to invest in this new processing system and a recent review of the project has confirmed that to date, the washing processes adopted by Adhunik and developed by CDE are adding significant value to the raw iron ore.

Speaking about the CDE plant, Mr Manoj Agarwal, Managing Director of Adhunik Metaliks said "We made the decision to purchase the CDE iron ore washing plant as it was very clear that they as a company have invested a lot of time into conducting detailed research of the market and how the current problems can be addressed. They were able to show us that their washing system was the correct solution. Our experience to date with this plant proves that the technology they provide offers significant advantages for those operating sinter and DRI plants."

The CDE OreMax system is  specifically set up to improve the FE content of raw iron ore reserves. This is essentially achieved through the reduction in the percentage of low value contaminants present in the feed material. The two main offenders here are Alumina and Silica. You can obtain a full paper detailing  why the CDE washing systems add significant value to iron ore reserves by contacting the company, but to summarise reducing the presence of these contaminants greatly improves efficiency at steel production facilities.

The first of these contaminants, Alumina, creates waste build up inside the kilns, and this is very expensive to clean and maintain. For silica, the problem is that this only burns off at very high temperatures. If there is a high silica content in the feed material, the production process will require substantial amounts of energy to be wasted during the production process in an attempt to burn off the unwanted silica. The direct result of the focus on reducing the level of these two contaminants is that the required increase in FE value of the feed material is achieved, thus leading to a much more efficient processing operation.

The fact that this theory works in practice can be seen in the comments of Mr GD Agarwal, Director of Adhunik Metaliks. "The CDE iron ore washing system that we have installed has delivered on the promises made by CDE - washing has significantly reduced the alumina and silica content of the raw feed material, which has led to improved FE content as a percentage of the total feed. There have been efficiency benefits at both our sinter and DRI plants as a direct result of the use of the washed ore from the CDE plant."

To obtain the full paper on why CDE washing systems add significant value to iron ore processing operations or for any further information on this process please contact us.

CDE Ireland Ltd

Ballyreagh Industrial Estate
Sandholes Road
Cookstown
BT80 9DG
Northern Ireland

T: 028 8676 7900
F: 028 8676 1414

www.cdeglobal.com