Case Vale
ACURA Part HID Solution Benefits Productivity at Brazil's Largest Mining Company
Vale is one of the world's most important mining companies, producing and marketing iron ore, pellets, nickel, copper concentrate, coal, bauxite, alumina, aluminum, potassium, kaolin, manganese, and ferroalloys. Investment in research is one of its priorities. To this end, they have a complex logistics system involving machines and workers in precision operations. This logistics has been improved with the integration of ACURA Part HID into an ore control solution. In Carajás, Pará, the control of customer orders is now done automatically, thanks to RFID technology. The concentration of ores needed to compose the specified product is transmitted to the process line, including trucks and loaders. In this way, workers know exactly the weight and type of ore already loaded into the system and what concentration is still needed to compose the final product.
In addition to optimizing the operational flow, RFID-based automation has brought greater precision and transparency to the entire ore handling chain. The integration of equipment, systems, and processes made control more reliable, reduced the need for manual intervention, and allowed decisions to be made based on real-time data. This resulted in a safer, more efficient operation aligned with the mining company's innovation and sustainability guidelines.
Problems
Collision of equipment booms in the finished goods yard.
Solution
Use of RFID tags to correct the equipment's position in the yard.
Advantages
Robust and safe solution for the harsh environment with 24/7 humidity.
Benefits
Precision in positioning, predicting encoder failures and boom collisions.
Target Audience
Mining.
The use of RFID helped Vale prevent accidents with mine equipment.
Vale, recognized as one of the most important mining companies in the world, operates with extremely complex processes that require precision, safety, and a high capacity for coordination between large machines and automated systems. In its operations, especially in the finished products yard, the proper positioning of equipment such as stackers and reclaimers is fundamental to avoid failures, interruptions, and losses. Before modernization, this control was performed by encoders, which frequently presented errors and indicated incorrect equipment positions, increasing the risk of collisions between booms, rail sinking, and operational failures that caused prolonged shutdowns. As this equipment is operated remotely and does not have operators present on-site, any reading error was potentially critical.
To solve this problem, an RFID-based solution was implemented, using MR-200 readers and HF-1100-IH tags distributed along the rails. Each tag received the exact information of its corresponding position in the yard, allowing the system to continuously identify the real location of each machine with much greater accuracy than the previous method. As a result, the positioning was updated automatically, eliminating inconsistencies and allowing the control system to correct routes and prevent risks before any incident could occur. The integration of RFID readers with the PLCs responsible for controlling the equipment made the entire process even more automated and reliable.
This modernization drastically reduced the chances of collisions between stackers and reclaimers — high-cost machines that are essential for production — as well as decreasing unscheduled downtime and maintenance costs. The result was a safer, more efficient system prepared to operate on a large scale, meeting the demands of a mining company that prioritizes innovation, precision, and operational continuity.
PRODUCTS USED
MTI Mono Circular 7 UHF Antenna
The Compact Monostatic UHF Antenna has great performance, resistance and a great design
EDGE-50 TCP-IP
Is a compact, high-performance UHF RFID reader, designed for applications that require TCP/IP communication. It delivers fast, stable, and reliable reading, making it ideal for system integration and automation solutions.
