Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Mikhailovsky GOK launched the unique product for Russian market – hematite concentrate.
The new technology is based on the flotation plant usage and suggests processing of the current output tails. Due to it the amount of impound tails will be reduced and production will increase without additional iron ore extraction.
This technology is MGOK specialists’ know-how worked out together with Russian research companies Mechanobr Engineering, Polimetall, Spirit and foreign engineering companies Roche and Меtso Minerals. The managing director of Mikhailovsky GOK Sergey Kretov is confident that this innovation will enable the mill to raise iron extraction ratio, to produce low cost product and solve ecological issues. The current objective is to test production of hematite concentrate pellets; it will provide the economy of magnetite concentrate and will make possible to sell it as a market product or use for pellets’ production.
In May, 2008 the Mikhailovsky GOK plans to produce 7 thousand tons of hematite concentrate with 58% iron content, the outlook for June is 14 thousand tons and 150 thousand tons by the end of 2008. The designed capacity is 2.5 million tons per year.
The next milestone of hematite concentrate production is implementation of gravitation technology which is to reduce costs and environmental pressure.
Metalloinvest Management Company CEO Maxim Gubiev mentions that the last achievement of Mikhailovsky GOK gives opportunity to fix the time limits for HBI plant construction at the mill. “We are to start this project not later than the end of 2008. We won’t loose the opportunity of the growing HBI market which is built mainly by Metalloinvest. We consider that HBI plant must be erected at Mikhailovsky GOK”, stressed Maxim Gubiev.
