Imagine a mine without off-road trucks to transport iron ore and without a tailings dam. It exists and is located in Canaã dos Carajás, southeastern Pará. Inaugurated on December 17, 2016, the S11D Eliezer Batista Complex is the largest mining project in the history of Vale and the sector. The project, which combines cutting-edge technology, low cost and high productivity, will allow Vale to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 50% annually, which means around 130 thousand tons of CO2 equivalent that will no longer be emitted. In addition, it will allow a saving of 18 thousand MWh/year of electricity, the equivalent of the consumption of 10 thousand homes.
S11D is an example of Vale's commitment to developing solutions aligned with global efforts to reduce GHG emissions and maintain balanced management of natural resources in processes. These actions and commitments are part of Vale's Global Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Policy. The policy establishes the Carbon Target, created in 2012, in which the company commits to reducing its direct GHG emissions by 5% in 2020.[1], through measures to combat climate change and its impacts. The company also encourages its value chain to do the same.
In 2015, Vale developed plans for annual monitoring of emissions reductions from projects that make up the Meta Carbono portfolio to ensure that its reduction target is achieved in the planned year. As a result of these initiatives, Vale was recognized for the sixth time as one of the leading companies in transparency in Brazil, once again integrating the index Climate Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI), of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), whose system allows companies to measure, manage and share information on GHG emissions and other environmental issues. Vale also had its inventory qualified, once again, with the Gold seal of the Brazilian GHG Protocol Program.
To stay focused on its goals, Vale conducted an in-depth review of its sustainability policy last year based on the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals. Vale's policy aims to establish guidelines and principles for sustainability in its projects and operations, reinforcing its commitment to putting life first and its social, environmental and economic responsibility.
[1] The target considers the difference between avoided or reduced emissions and the estimated real emissions in 2020, if the company did not take any initiative in this regard.
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One of the main technological solutions that transform the S11D mine into a reference in environmental terms is the adoption of the system truckless, a set of structures consisting of excavators and mobile crushers interconnected by conveyor belts. In total, the belts reach 68 kilometers in length operating within the mine and the plant. The new system replaces the traditional off-road trucks, common in mining. If this were conventional mining, it would be necessary to use 100 off-road trucks with a capacity of 240 tons. Without them, Vale will reduce its diesel consumption by approximately 70%. The reduced use of mining equipment also represents a significant reduction in the production of waste such as tires, oil filters and lubricants.
Located at the top of the mountain, 400 meters above the site where the plant is being installed, the S11D mine will have four systems of excavators and mobile crushers operating simultaneously. After being crushed, the material collected at the mining front will be transported by belts to a transfer house, where the iron ore, canga and waste rock will be separated and sent to the processing plant or to be stacked. The ore will be sent to the plant via the Long-Distance Belt Conveyor, which is over nine kilometers long. Two other lines, approximately five kilometers each, will transport the waste rock and canga (iron ore with a higher contaminant content) to the stacking area.
This entire conveyor belt structure allowed the plant, the ore storage and regularization yards, the waste and canga piles, and the train maneuvering and loading area to be installed on pasture land outside the Carajás National Forest (Flonaca). With this solution, it was possible to reduce vegetation suppression in the Flonaca by more than 40% when compared to the original master plan of 2.6 thousand hectares. The Carajás National Forest has 412 thousand hectares and, even after the implementation of S11D, less than 4% will have been affected by mining activities since Vale established itself in the region 30 years ago.
The S11D plant will also use a processing route developed by Vale: natural moisture processing – or dry processing, as it is also known –, already used in some plants in Carajás and which will reduce water consumption by 93%, equivalent to supplying a city with 400,000 inhabitants. Another advantage is the elimination of tailings dams due to the high quality of the product to be mined and dry processing. The ultrafine ore with a high iron content, which would go to the dam, will not be discarded, allowing it to be incorporated into production.
Learn more about the S11D Eliezer Batista Complex:
