Vale and ABB are expanding their automation and AI partnership to more iron ore processing plants in Brazil.

The initial plant, with an 11.2-million-ton annual capacity, has delivered a 25% productivity boost and a 40% increase in premium ore output since 2024. It has also cut iron losses to tailings by 26% and significantly reduced manual field interventions, improving worker safety.

Vale's operations vice president highlighted that AI-driven data intelligence now manages over 400 process variables to anticipate failures and avoid shutdowns. The companies will gradually deploy the same framework across other sites to enhance energy efficiency, digitalization, and long-term competitiveness.