Venezuela's state-owned iron ore producer CVG Ferrominera Orinoco plans in the near future to commission its new iron ore concentrate plant named Planta de Concentracion Magnetica, located in Bolívar state's San Félix city, the startup of which was initially scheduled for mid-2010.
Accordingly, the new plant will allow Ferrominera Orinoco to process about ten million mt of iron ore fines (of 67-68 percent iron content), accumulated over 40 years as a result of iron ore mining at the nearby El Pao iron ore deposit.
The production of the new iron ore concentrate plant will be used by Ferrominera Orinoco's iron ore pellet production plants, the capacities of which amount to 3.5 million mt per year. Ferrominera Orinoco also produces up to 27 million mt of iron ore and one million mt of HBI annually.
In 2010, Ferrominera Orinoco plans to export 11 million mt of iron ore.