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Orinoco Iron is the largest merchant Hot Briquette Iron (HBI) producer in the Americas. The plant uses FINMET® technology, and is able to produce 2.2 million metric tons of HBI per year. The company is present in four continents and its export experience began in late 1970's.

Our mission is to actively contribute to maintain and increase our clients' performance and the quality of their products through the reliable supply of metallic iron units, exceeding our clients' requirements and according to their steelmaking processes. We strive towards higher profitability that will strengthen our viability, allowing us to grow, increase our personnel's welfare, and yield an attractive return to our shareholders.
In all of our operations, Orinoco Iron acts in a socially responsible manner, while the operations stand out due to their advanced technology and by being in harmony with the environment.
Facilities and Operations
In Our Community Orinoco Iron aims to maintain mutually beneficial relationships between the organization and the community in which its operations are located. We have generated close ties with community leaders and citizens in Puerto Ordaz, and Caracas, Venezuela, and these cities have benefited by our presence as well.
 
Orinoco Iron Plant Finmet® Process 2,200,000 MT/Year
Orinoco Iron uses a fluid bed iron ore fines reduction process to produce hot molded briquettes. The Finmet® process is based upon the reduction of iron ore to metallic iron at high temperature and pressure using reducing gases produced from reforming. The reducing gas utilized has a high content of hydrogen.

The heart of the process is a series of four fluidized bed reactors to convert iron ore fines (12 mm) to HBI. The fines are first preheated in the preheat reactor by the combustion of natural gas in a fluidized bed under non-reducing conditions.

Now at a temperature of 750°C, the fines flow by gravity to the first of three reducing reactors, and pass successively down through the other two. The iron ore is reduced by contact with the reducing gas, and reaches a metalization of 92-93% in the final reactor. Here carbon is formed on the reduced iron ore in the form of iron carbide.

Once the reduction process is completed, the hot iron is transferred to the briquetting machines, where it is compacted between counter-revolving rollers into strings of briquettes. The strings are separated into individual briquettes. The briquettes are passivated and cooled, and then are stored in outdoor storage piles. The briquettes produced in this process are very inert and exhibit little re-oxidation tendency.

An integral part of the process is the quality control, which is applied at each step and thereby ensures that the final product quality meets Orinoco Iron's standards.
 
Raw Materials and Utility Sources
Iron Ore
Iron ore is mined and sold in Venezuela exclusively by CVG FMO, whose mines are located in the Guayana region. The iron ore reserves of CVG FMO are estimated to be around 4.2 billion tons of proven reserves and 14.7 billion tons of total reserves, including estimates for probable and possible deposits. Venezuela can supply its expected metallics demand for more than a century based upon present demand and proven reserves.

The proven reserves for mines with at least 64% iron on a dry basis is 1.7 billion tons. This type of ore is classified as shipping grade, and as such it can be used directly from the mine for steelmaking or direct reduction. There are another 2.5 billion tons of proven ore reserves with 60 to 63% iron. This ore would require a minimal amount of upgrading in order to be used in steelmaking. By comparison, most US ores have less than 50% iron and have to be beneficiated so that iron ore can be used for steelmaking.

In Venezuela, as in many mining regions in the rest of the world, the major part of the ore mined is in the form of fines under 1/2" in size.

Utility Sources

Natural Gas
Natural gas for the Project is provided by Pdvsa Gas, the sole supplier in the region. Currently, the gas is produced at wells in the El Tigre area and is transported by pipeline to a gas liquid extraction plant at Jose, on the coast, and then sent by pipeline to the Orinoco Iron Plant.

Venezuela has proven natural gas reserves of 148 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), the second largest in the Western Hemisphere (behind the United States). In addition, new discoveries far exceed increases in consumption. Consumption in the Puerto Ordaz area is in the order of 3.4 billion m3 per year, 12% of total production.

Electrical Power
Electricity is provided by Edelca, which owns and operates all the hydroelectric power supply of the Guayana region. The electricity is supplied by one of the largest and most reliable hydroelectric networks in the world, as its power generation capacity is not vulnerable to adverse changes in rainfall conditions. The Dams -Guri, Macagua I, Macagua II, and Macagua III- provide a combined generating capacity of over 13,500 MW. This will be increased by the construction of new hydroelectric dams in the future. The region's total hydroelectric capacity is forecasted to be over 18,000 MW by 2010.

Water
Industrial water is supplied from the Caroní River, which has a maximum flow over 10,000 m3/sec. The Orinoco Iron Plant uses 0.2 m3/sec.
 
Facilities / Supporting Infraestructure
Rail Transportation
There is an existing rail line adjacent to the Orinoco Iron Plant site which connects the Matanzas Industrial Zone to the CVG FMO ore processing facilities at Puerto Ordaz and Palúa.

The ore required by Orinoco Iron is delivered by rail car to an unloading station located at the Plant. HBI product from the Plant is transported by conveyor belts to metal storage hoppers located over the rail spur at the rail receiving station inside the Plant site. HBI is an inert material and can be safely stored in uncovered piles or in hoppers. The hoppers will discharge the HBI directly into the rail cars, which deliver the HBI to the shipping port. Capacity of CVG FMO rail line 32 million tpa

Roads
The Guayana region has one of the best road networks in Venezuela. The Matanzas Industrial Zone has a modern road network which connects it with neighboring towns. A well maintained four lane highway connects it to both Puerto Ordaz and Ciudad Bolívar. A six lane road connects Matanzas to San Felix, where many of the workers in the heavy industrial plants live.

Orinoco River
The Orinoco River has an estimated maximum shipping capacity of 100 million tpa, or more than five times its present traffic. Vessels of up to 80,000 DWT can load during the period when the Orinoco River draft is high (during May-November) and vessels of around 40-50,000 DWT can make the passage to the Atlantic during the dry season. The draft in the low season is 28-30 feet, while in the high season is 32-38 feet. Most HBI cargoes are being transported in 25-40.000 ton lots.

Port Facilities
The Palúa facility is located on the mile 184 of the Orinoco River. HBI from the Orinoco Iron Plant is exported from the Palúa facility at San Felix. The Palúa dock has 276.6 meters in length and can berth one vessel. Palúa's ship loading capacity is 1,100 tph for HBI. At present HBI is transported to Palúa and stored at a 150,000 tons store-yard.

The HBI is transported from the plant to the port by rail cars, and stored in piles, then the product is loaded by front end loaders onto a mechanized system which sends it into the ships.

These installations are designed in conformity with the concept of "soft loading", in order to optimize the degradation of the product, which improve the material handling.
 

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