{"id":412,"date":"2026-07-12T21:02:53","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T21:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ferrominera.com\/en\/?page_id=412"},"modified":"2026-07-12T23:26:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T23:26:47","slug":"pelletizing-operations","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ferrominera.com\/en\/pelletizing-operations\/","title":{"rendered":"Pelletizing Operations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Operations<\/p>\n

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text_orientation=”justified” animation_style=”fade” animation_speed_curve=”linear” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

The Ferrominera Orinoco Pellet Plant is located within the Punta Cuchillo industrial complex, in the Matanzas industrial sector of Puerto Ordaz, Bol\u00edvar State, Venezuela<\/strong>. This grate\u2011kiln type facility (grate \u2013 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\u2011producing companies in Guayana, strengthening national steel production.<\/p>\n

The institutional magazine El Minero (Year XXXVIII, Issue 3, May\u2013June 1991) reported the signing of the agreement that initiated construction of the plant, involving the Corporaci\u00f3n Venezolana de Guayana (CVG) and Japanese companies Kobe Steel and Marubeni, marking a new stage in the development and expansion of Venezuela\u2019s iron industry.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

This pre\u2011reduced product is derived from pelletizing fine iron ore mixed with bentonite and dolomite\u2014critical raw materials for the national briquette and steel industry.<\/p>\n

The Pellet Plant processes mined ore by grinding it, adding additives, and forming pellets that serve as feedstock for Ferrominera\u2019s Briquette Plant and other briquette producers.<\/p>\n

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\u2011reduced material to the national briquette sector.<\/p>\n

Expansion Projects <\/strong><\/h3>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Second Pellet Line <\/strong><\/h3>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Advantages<\/strong><\/h4>\n
    \n
  • Both lines use the same Allis Chalmers pelletizing process.<\/li>\n
  • A high\u2011availability vertical mixer will be installed in the Mixing Area.<\/li>\n
  • An additional pelletizing disc will be available in the Pellet Formation Area.<\/li>\n
  • In the Thermal Hardening Area (Mobile Grate), thermal profile control is improved, avoiding abrupt temperature changes between zones.<\/li>\n
  • The Annular Cooler will have increased fresh\u2011air volume for pellet cooling.<\/li>\n
  • An additional discharge outlet after the Annular Cooler will prevent plant shutdowns due to failures in the main outlet.<\/li>\n
  • All generated dust is recovered and pneumatically reintegrated into the process.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Specifications <\/strong><\/h3>\n

    Pellet Plant I currently produces PM7\u2011type pellets exclusively, although the plant is capable of producing other pellet grades (PM2, PM4, PM6, and PM8).<\/p>\n

    Process PM7 pellet production is carried out through a pelletizing process lasting three to four hours, executed in three major stages:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Material handling operations<\/li>\n
    • Pellet formation<\/li>\n
    • Thermal hardening<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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      Shortcuts<\/p>\n

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      Technical overview of Ferrominera Orinoco\u2019s grate kiln pellet plant, producing PM7 iron ore pellets and supporting Venezuela\u2019s briquette and steel industries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-412","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ferrominera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ferrominera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ferrominera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ferrominera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ferrominera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/ferrominera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":495,"href":"https:\/\/ferrominera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/412\/revisions\/495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ferrominera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}