The Ferrominera Orinoco Pellet Plant is located within the Punta Cuchillo industrial complex, in the Matanzas industrial sector of Puerto Ordaz, Bolívar State, Venezuela. This grate‑kiln type facility (grate – rotary kiln), based on the Allis Chalmers process, began operations in 1994 after two years of construction. Its purpose is to add value to Venezuelan iron ore and supply the briquette‑producing companies in Guayana, strengthening national steel production.

The institutional magazine El Minero (Year XXXVIII, Issue 3, May–June 1991) reported the signing of the agreement that initiated construction of the plant, involving the Corporación Venezolana de Guayana (CVG) and Japanese companies Kobe Steel and Marubeni, marking a new stage in the development and expansion of Venezuela’s iron industry.

The plant was built with resources from the iron industry and private capital. Its nominal production capacity is 3.3 million tons of pellets per year, for direct reduction and/or blast furnace use. The pelletizing facility occupies an area of 788,000 square meters.

This pre‑reduced product is derived from pelletizing fine iron ore mixed with bentonite and dolomite—critical raw materials for the national briquette and steel industry.

The Pellet Plant processes mined ore by grinding it, adding additives, and forming pellets that serve as feedstock for Ferrominera’s Briquette Plant and other briquette producers.

From 1994 onward, the Pellet Plant was operated by Kobe Steel through its subsidiary Operadora Planta de Pellas (OPP). On April 4, 2008, Ferrominera Orinoco assumed full operation, administration, and maintenance of the facility to ensure the supply of pre‑reduced material to the national briquette sector.

Expansion Projects

In 2007, the company invested US$ 72 million in upgrades and expansion of the Pellet Plant, and in 2008 an additional US$ 50 million was allocated, aiming to reach production levels of up to 4 million tons per year by 2009, promoting endogenous industrial development.

Second Pellet Line

Ferrominera is advancing construction of a second production line with China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC), with a capacity of 3.0 million tons per year to meet national iron and steel sector requirements.

Advantages

• Both lines use the same Allis Chalmers pelletizing process.
• A high‑availability vertical mixer will be installed in the Mixing Area.
• An additional pelletizing disc will be available in the Pellet Formation Area.
• In the Thermal Hardening Area (Mobile Grate), thermal profile control is improved, avoiding abrupt temperature changes between zones.
• The Annular Cooler will have increased fresh‑air volume for pellet cooling.
• An additional discharge outlet after the Annular Cooler will prevent plant shutdowns due to failures in the main outlet.
• All generated dust is recovered and pneumatically reintegrated into the process.

Specifications

Pellet Plant I currently produces PM7‑type pellets exclusively, although the plant is capable of producing other pellet grades (PM2, PM4, PM6, and PM8).

Process PM7 pellet production is carried out through a pelletizing process lasting three to four hours, executed in three major stages:

• Material handling operations
• Pellet formation
• Thermal hardening