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Location: 50 km SW from Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Rod BR 381, Km 533, saída 522, Fazenda Córrego FundoItatiaiuçuBrazil35685-000
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The Caue Formation of the Paleoproterozoic Minas Supergroup hosts banded iron formations (BIFs), locally called itabirites, deposited in shallow marine passive margin settings. The mineralization occurs as friable, semi compact and compact Itabirites and banded hematite-silica rocks, with varying degrees of weathering and oxidation. Both the Andrade and Serra Azul mines are located in the Iron Quadrangle (Quadrilátero Ferrífero), a widely-explored and mined region. The mineralization occurs as Itabirites, banded hematite-silica rocks, with varying weathering degrees.The Serra Azul, westernmost section of the Serra do Curral, is 14 kilometers long. The east end of the section, a little less than 1 kilometer long, is in the southwest corner of the Igarape" quadrangle.The large part of the range is in the Serra Azul and Itatiaiugu quadrangles. More than 11 kilometers of the crest of the Serra Azul is overlain by three long narrow canga sheets and associated rolado deposits. From east to west the three canga sheets are approximately 4, 5.5, and 2 kilometers long, respectively. A fourth canga sheet, 1.1 kilometers long and 250 meters wide, lies on the north side of the range at its east end and near the head of Corrego da Pedra Grande.The canga and rolado deposits on the range crest mostly overlie the Caue" Itabtrite, but both the east and middle sheets locally overlie the Cercadinho Formation, which occurs near the range crest on the north side of the range, and the Caraga Group which occurs on the south side of the crest. The middle canga layer extends as much as half a kilometer south of the range crest, covering a dip slope of overturned Caue Itabirite. The canga sheet north of the range caps a pediment overlying the Fecho do Funil Formation, TaboSes Quartzite, and Sabara Formation. The canga deposits cover 2,300,000 square meters and have an average thickness of 2 meters. The rolado deposits have an aerial distribution of 200,000 square meters and an average thickness of 1 meter. The canga is estimated to average 62 percent iron; the rolado, 60 percent iron. Eight canga samples had an average iron content of 63.34 percent.
ArcelorMittal Mineração Serra Azul mine is a production stage open pit iron ore mine.Serra Azul mines and processes the friable itabirite with the Serra Azul expansion project contemplating the mining and processing of semi-compact and compact ores.
Processing includes a crushing facility and screening within a three-line concentration plant.
Serra Azul operates a processing plant consisting of a crushing facility and a three-line concentration facility, including screening, magnetic separation, spirals separators and jigging. Iron ore product is transported by truck to two railway terminals located 35 and 50 kilometers from the mine site for distribution to local purchasers of sinter feed or for export through third-party port facilities located in the Rio de Janeiro State.In 2021, an updated resource model was generated, incorporating the results of a 1,508 meter drilling program completed in late 2020. The drilling program targeted further definition of the friable itabirite (“IF”) ore bodies, and the updated model has been used to reassess the mine life for the IF phase of the Serra Azul Mine.This resulted in a revised life of mine for the IF phase, with mining operations extended until the end of the first quarter of 2025.After finalizing the IF phase, the mine stopped its production until the compact itabirite (“IC”) and semi-compact itabirite (“ISC”) processing plant operations started again in the fourth quarter of 2025.Following the integration of the Serra Azul Mine into ArcelorMittal Brasil in 2020, an expansion project for the Serra Azul Mine was approved, extending the mine's life until 2056. The project considers producing 4.5 million tonnes per annum of DRI quality pellet feed by processing IC and ISC material. The IC and ISC processing plant operations started in the fourth quarter of 2025.On 18 March 2026, ArcelorMittal Brasil officially inaugurated the new iron ore processing plant at the Serra Azul Unit in Itatiaiuçu (IC), with investments of R$ 2.5 billion. With the expansion of the unit, the mine's production will increase from 1.5 million to 4.5 million tons per year.The pellet feed is an ore with a high iron content (approximately 67%) and low levels of impurities.
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