BrazilManufacturing2024 – ongoingVale
Conceição 2 'Model Plant' with AI process control (Itabira)
Vale said an AI-run iron ore plant in Itabira raised productivity 25% in under two years
Problem
Vale's Conceição 2 iron ore processing plant in Itabira, Minas Gerais, had bottlenecks, and operators spent time in the field.
Approach
Vale rebuilt the plant over about 1.5 years with 51 solutions, with ABB as technology integrator. A data layer controls more than 400 variables, and AI layers adjust the process in real time using online ore-grade analysis. About 7,300 automated instruments and over 100 cameras support remote operation from control rooms. The plant was inaugurated on 10 June 2026.
Results
Takeaway
Vale combined AI process control with automated instruments and remote operation across the plant. The reported gains were the company's own figures.
Categories
- Size
- Large enterprise
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Business function
- Production and quality
- Innovation type
- Process innovation
- AI technology
- Predictive analytics and MLOptimization
- Adoption
- Co-developed with a partner
- Evidence
- Company's own claim
Sources
Source summaries
Vale reported a 25% productivity gain in under two years at its Conceição 2 plant, a 26% fall in iron content in waste, 11.2 Mt/yr capacity and 92% water recirculation. It lists the AI layers, 7,300 instruments and 51 solutions, and names ABB as integrator.
InfoMoney reported on the inauguration on 10 June 2026 and attributed the figures to Vale executives Carlos Medeiros and Rafael Bittar. It repeats the 25% productivity gain, the 26% fall in iron in tailings, the 51 solutions and the 1.5-year timeline.
Full details are in the original sources.
