Background

The iron ore mines in Kiruna and Malmberget are underground mines where the ore is mined deep below the ground surface and transported to the surface by hoists. The processing plants produce a number of different products, including sintered iron ore pellets but also iron ore concentrates.

To produce iron ore pellets, the ore must be crushed, screened, ground and mixed with additives. The pellet concentrate is then pumped in slurry form (a non-soluble mixture of water and solid particles) from the Enrichment Plant to the Pellet Plant, where the slurry is finally dewatered and formed into pellets. Grinding bodies are used in mills in the Enrichment Plant to break down the ore. Handling and transport of the grinding bodies have previously been carried out with and in drums, which has resulted in a lot of unnecessary waste. Drum handling is also very resource-intensive. The customer has had the idea of switching from drums to so-called big bags.

Our commitment

Alteco System has, together with the customer, redesigned the entire handling process for the grinding bodies, from transport, warehouse logistics, storage buildings, hoppers, transport lines to the automated grinding body feeders. Alteco has been a cog in the project all the way from concept study and preliminary design to construction and commissioning on site at the customer.