Vale and ABB have signed a strategic alliance to accelerate the deployment of automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies across Vale’s mineral production operations in Brazil, using a newly inaugurated iron ore plant as the blueprint.
The partnership builds on the success of Vale’s Conceição II Model Plant in Itabira, Minas Gerais, one of the company’s flagship projects under its Mining of the Future strategy.
The 11.2-million-tonne-per-year complex, inaugurated in June, is designed to demonstrate how advanced automation, digitalization and AI can transform iron ore processing. Vale plans to progressively replicate the technologies deployed at Conceição II across other iron ore operations.
ABB supported the project as consultant, systems integrator and technology provider, helping develop, validate and scale advanced automation and integrated IT/OT solutions aimed at improving safety, productivity, operational performance and sustainability.
The plant features more than 100 monitoring cameras and automation covering more than 7,000 instruments, including advanced measurement devices and sensors. Data intelligence is used to monitor and optimize more than 400 variables throughout the ore-processing workflow, while redesigned operating processes are intended to identify potential failures before they trigger unplanned shutdowns.
The technology is already delivering measurable gains.
Since implementation in 2024, Conceição II has recorded a 25 percent increase in productivity, a 40 percent increase in premium ore production for direct reduction and a 26 percent reduction in iron losses in tailings. The plant’s configuration has also reduced the need for manual field interventions, helping limit employee exposure to operational risks.
With Conceição II now serving as a model for Vale’s broader digital transformation, the new alliance will focus on extending the approach to other operations.
“The Model Plant Project has shown that new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, improve employee safety and increase productivity, operational efficiency and quality in mining,” said Carlos Medeiros, Vale's Vice President of Operations.
“Now, we are going to take this learning to other Vale operations, increasing the predictability of processes, improving the use of mineral resources and reducing people's exposure to risky activities. The initiative reinforces our new way of operating, which is increasingly safe, sustainable and data-driven, strengthening our competitiveness and preparing us for the challenges of the future.”
The companies said the agreement will establish a common framework for deploying automation, electrification and digitalization technologies across multiple Vale operations.
“This new agreement with Vale represents an important milestone in our partnership,” said Joachim Braun, President of ABB's Process Industries Division. “Building on the success achieved in Conceição II, we are creating a framework to deploy a consistent approach to automation, electrification and digitalization across multiple operations.”
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