Schneider Electric and AVEVA Unify Vale Mining Operations to Improve Safety and Sustainability

August 25, 2021 1:28 pm

Partners integrate operations across 15 distinct sites, at two major complexes.

Schneider Electric, the leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, and AVEVA, a global leader in industrial software, driving digital transformation and sustainability, are powering the unification of operations for Vale, a global natural resources and mining company.
The combination of AVEVA and Schneider Electric software, technology and mining domain expertise is providing Vale with the ability to integrate, centralise, and remotely monitor operations across its Mariana and Itabira complexes in Brazil.

Vale ranks among the top five largest mining companies in the world. Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, the world’s leading producer of iron ore, pellets and nickel employs a global workforce of over 170,000 people in 38 countries. The Mariana Complex and Itabira Complex are two of Vale’s major iron ore production sites, located in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Together, the complexes are responsible for more than 75 percent of the production data from Vale’s Minas Gerais mining operations.

While primarily implemented to improve safety through remote operations, digitalisation is critically important to driving efficiency and sustainability in mining. Through the partnership, Vale can unify operations across multiple sites and upgrade its old system to one capable of remotely controlling all the diverse technologies operating across each mining facility. Crucially, the remote management solution enables Vale to have fewer professionals onsite, increasing safety and reducing operational expenditures while also vastly improving energy efficiency, and therefore, sustainability.

“We are constantly looking to improve safety, efficiency and sustainability, not just now but also for the future,” said Paulo Henrique Fontes Coura, Senior Automation Leader, Vale. “Schneider Electric and AVEVA have become an integral part of that journey. Rather than simply offering the software, they provided a complete, bespoke end-to-end service helping us optimise at every turn. This included training, support, and advice throughout.”

“The collaboration between our companies has created something much greater than the sum of its parts,” said Gilberto da Cunha Vieira, Electrical and Automation Engineer Leader, Vale. “We are enormously grateful to Schneider Electric and AVEVA for bringing our facilities together.”

For more info, visit: www.se.com