Developing a World Leading Iron Ore Company DIGITAL REPORT 2021
IN ASSOCIATION WITH:
FERREXPO
DEVELOPING A WORLD LEADING IRON ORE COMPANY
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Jim North, CEO of Ferrexpo, reveals how the Ukrainian mining business is embracing digital transformation, expanding its global sales footprint and future-proofing operations with its sustainability goals
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errexpo’s priorities are to position for growth and further optimise its operations while ensuring disciplined governance. Ferrexpo’s strategy is to produce and export high-quality pellets to premium steel mills around the world that produce sophisticated steel products. It aims to be a low-cost efficient producer of iron ore pellets with a reliable logistics infrastructure. A global player in the steel industry Since Ferrexpo listed in 2007 its focus has been on improving the quality of the iron ore pellets it produces (now a high grade 65%+), transforming facilities for a broadened portfolio outlook, and growing its customer base with Tier 1 steel producers. “We now have a first-class sales book and have become a global player in the raw materials supplying the steel industry in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the US”, explains Interim CEO & Executive Director, Jim North. “We've continued that quality journey in the last couple of years, and been broadening into the DR market, which is where we see a large proportion of our growth in production going in the future. We've been doing trial cargoes since 2018, and in 2020, we sold saw a substantial amount, just over 300,000 tonnes of material, into the DR market, and we would see a larger proportion of our sales portfolio moving that way going forward”.
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Jim North, Interim CEO & Executive Director, Ferrexpo
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Expansion “We've been planning how we want to grow our business with a high-quality, long-life resource in Ukraine. One of the challenges we have with that resource is the amount of options, but what is the actual highest value-add path forward?", asks North. “We’ve been working on answering that and we've now started executing. We're into the detailed design and execution of our growth programme. 6
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We've informed the market we intend to double our production over time. We can incrementally grow the business by expanding our brownfield activities. Two years ago, we started the development of our third open-pit mine, Belanovo. We’ve started stripping activities and are gradually expanding. We are timing this to come online when we'll need a more high-grade material as we expand our concentrator and pelletiser footprint”.
FERREXPO
JIM NORTH TITLE: INTERIM CEO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR COMPANY: FERREXPO
1960
Year Founded
Resources Industry
$1.7bn Revenue
EXECUTIVE BIO
Jim North joined Ferrexpo in November 2014 as Group Chief Operating Officer. In February 2015, Jim was appointed the Non-executive Chairman of Ferrexpo Belanovo Mining. On 28 May 2020, Jim was appointed as Acting Chief Executive Officer of Ferrexpo plc, and was appointed Executive Director for the Board of Ferrexpo plc on 5 July 2020. Jim joined Ferrexpo in November 2014 and since then he has successfully managed the Company's operations and introduced world class operating practices. Previously, Jim was Chief Operating Officer of London Mining plc, where he was accountable for setting the company's operational and investment strategy around the world. Prior to this, he held a variety of senior operational management roles in multiple commodities with Rio Tinto and BHP.
Zeppelin is a Caterpillar Dealer since 1954. Zeppelin International responsible for construction and mining equipment business in several countries in the CIS. In the CIS Zeppelin has a strong footprint in the mining industry. We create solutions to meet the expectations of our mining customers in Russia, Ukraine, Armenia and in Uzbekistan. Reliable Caterpillar machines and operational excellence are essential for sustainable success. Zeppelin supports mining companies with professional 24/7 on-site service support, with preventive maintenance solutions to reduce downtime and maximize profit, with adopting best practices and with financing solutions. Highly qualified operators and technicians are crucial for utmost equipment performance. Therefor Zeppelin pays high attention to the training of customer personnel and to knowledge transfer by its own training centers. Digital solutions such as an Asset Management Tools enable a proactive maintenance approach and lead into low ownership costs. Sustainability, focused on social responsibility, environmental management and economicgrowth is one of the core values of Zeppelin and Caterpillar. Caterpillar has been always
investing in new technologies to be ready to meet the future needs of our customers. One focus is on energy and emission reduction in the own business, and helping customers decrease their carbon footprints through technical solutions that contribute to lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Fuel reduction technologies, alternative fuels, diesel-electric machines, and trolley assist are widely used today. Autonomous vehicles are a strong trend in the mining industry. About 350 autonomous Caterpillar mining trucks are running today with a high milage. Customers experience productivity increase in the rage of 30%. More than 3 billion tonnes of material are moved by Cat® autonomous trucks using Cat® MineStar™ Command for hauling since first in operation. Electrification is another area in which Caterpillar is investing heavily to meet future customer expectations. For about 100 years Caterpillar has been helping our customers building a better world, making sustainable progress possible and driving positive change on every continent.
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Embracing transformation in Ukraine
“ We live and work in a cyclical industry; the commodity prices vary considerably year on year, so we’ve chosen a conservative but very solid program for expansion” JIM NORTH
INTERIM CEO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FERREXPO
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Ferrexpo has four pellestiser lines of pelletisers with investments planned in each line followed by incremental expansion of concentrated production with more crushing and grinding equipment. “We’ll be growing out production slowly over the next 10 to 12 years”, confirms North. “I think that's the best strategy for us and it de-risks the business. We know we live and work in a cyclical industry; the commodity prices vary considerably year on year, so we’ve chosen a conservative but very solid program for expansion”. Decarbonisation Decarbonisation is gathering pace so the DR market is the key to future growth for
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UKRAINE OPERATIONS Ferrexpo’s resource base is situated along a 50km mineral deposit in the Ukraine, which allows for the efficient expansion of production through brownfield developments. As of 1 June 2020, the company has estimated proven and probable ore reserves of 1.7 billion tonnes classified according to the JORC Code. These Ore Reserves are included in Ferrexpo’s mMineral Resources of resources approximately 6.1 billion tonnes. In addition, as of 1 June 2020, the company had estimated resources of 13.1 billion tonnes under the FSU Classification.
Ferrexpo. “There’s a lot of talk about green steel”, says North. “If we want a green steel industry, blast furnace technology either needs to substantially change or will eventually be phased out. Traditionally, our standard pellets feed the blast furnace market. For a green steel product, you need to move away from the traditional technologies that use coke and filament gas for fuel, and towards electric arc furnaces and the DR processes. As we work on our growth programme we're modifying our technology to allow us to produce a higher-grade, ultimately carbon-neutral pellet needed for the green steel process”.
Ferrexpo’s ore body has been classified into nine deposits of which the first three have been developed into two open pit mines: • FPM exploits the GPL deposits. The FPM mine has consistent geology and a long-life production profile beyond 2040, based on annual mining output of approximately 30 million tonnes. • FYM exploits the Yerystivske deposit. The development of the FYM mine fully utilises known and existing technology and infrastructure. FYM has an approximate mine life beyond 2055 based on current annual output
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TO BE THE NO.1 SYSTEM SOLUTION PROVIDER
Sumitec, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation, has been providing engineering and technical support for mining equipment and Komatsu shovels and trucks since 2003, when its working partnership with Ferrexpo began. Well established in Ukraine, Sumitec is the official representative for Komatsu construction and mining equipment as well as Toyota material handling and lifting equipment and works with a host of mining multinationals, including ArcelorMittal and Metinvest.
Trusted technical support
“We provide 24/7 in-house technical support for Ferrexpo with a maximum reaction time of one hour,” explains Sumitec
Director Alexander Scherbakov. “Our people are trained by Komatsu Germany’s mining division and in Japan. We also work closely with our Canadian sister company SMS Equipment which has 60 years of industry experience. “We aim to reduce downtime of the equipment and, despite the limitations of Ukraine’s infrastructure, meet international standards. For example, we’ve replaced conventional lifting with jack systems which have reduced repair time down from 20-28 days to just 5 days.” Sumitec manages rebuilds of all components: final drives, engines, transmissions, differentials. “We can also rebuild hydraulic cylinders and manufacture hydraulic hoses at our in-house facility,” adds Scherbakov. “We’ve always got the right parts in stock to put machines back into operations as fast as possible.”
Digitalization
Digitalization is driving efficiencies for both maintenance and operations at Ferrexpo. “We’re looking at introducing more automatic equipment on site,” adds Scherbakov. “We can design the workflow and work with Ferrexpo much faster with a digital approach that also allows for the introduction of new autonomous equipment. We can receive projects and download them on to our machine and take control of daily operations progress. This enables us to ensure everything is done on plan and controlled remotely to guarantee quality and reduce time.”
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MAINTAINING A LICENSE TO OPERATE “We’re proud of the charitable activities in our CSR program,” asserts Ferrexpo’s Interim CEO & Executive Director, Jim North. “Maintaining a social license to operate is important for Ferrexpo. Our foundation, the Poltava Charity Fund, typically receives investment of around 1% of EBITDA from the previous year into its community projects. We invested $6mn last year, of which $2.5mn was related to the Covid-19 response effort. It's targeted expenditure, we’re not just investing into the community. We're thinking about the next generation of miners, so we want the community to have the facilities that they have. We're a rural community, far from any large city, so we want the children to have good sporting and education facilities. We invest in health programs, and improve the local environment so we have a more engaged workforce.” “Education is very important to us,” he adds. “I don't think that the Ukraine is any different to what you're seeing globally; urbanisation across the globe presents challenges. We actually want to help people understand the important role of mining in actually developing the modern world. For the renewables industry to expand, it actually needs mining to provide the raw materials. We want to be a good corporate citizen, so part of our CSR program is supporting our communities, but also, the focus is on the younger generation. We want people to understand that mining is important and interesting. The technology driving it is a window into the future: autonomy, AI, drones, robotics… We want to help inspire the next generation of miners to join our industry.”
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Digital transformation supporting sustainability and safety Ferrexpo is on the journey towards decarbonising its mining fleet by implementing mine electrification, transitioning to renewable energy sources for electricity, and making the move away from using natural gas in its pelletisers with hydrogen the most likely solution. “Automation will also play a role in the future”, adds North. “It delivers efficiency and lowers cost inputs. So, if you're thinking about the carbon journey, with lower inputs into your process you're generally going to use less carbon too”. Ferrexpo is continuing its fleet autonomy journey with Epiroc. “We first began automating our drills back in 2017”, recalls North. “We currently have three semiautonomous drills being operated via a tele-remote process from our mining control room – we call the process teleremote. The driller now can come to work, sit in front of a computer screen with a joystick, almost like a Sony PlayStation, and get to operate the drill from the office. This removes our drillers from the mining hazards of the pit. They don’t work in a highvibration environment. There's no dust. And you're removing people from that person/ machine interface, which is removing the potential for accidents to occur”. North also notes the spike in productivity when shift changes are minimised with continuous operation. “We've been running continually since 2017, and the intention is to move to fullautonomous drilling as we expand the business. Once we're comfortable with the technology and our workforces have adopted fully, we'll move to the point where one driller can operate two or three drills at one time”. ferrexpo.com
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At Outliers Mining Solutions, we elevate productivity at mines around the globe. We deliver lasting solutions in mining operations, asset management and mine technology. So, when you need an advisor and implementors with a distinguished track record and deep industry experience, Outliers is a miner’s major advantage.
Outliers: improving mine performance and efficiency Operational consulting and implementation expertise across a range of mining-specific services to increase productivity and reduce costs Outliers Mining Solutions is a multidisciplinary operational consulting firm serving the global mining industry. Outliers CEO & Co-founder Salar Javid leads an innovative consulting and value delivery approach across the mining space. “In partnership with our clients, we deliver end-to-end solutions to improve productivity and efficiency. We use data from mining operations to analyze past performance and implement sustainable solutions that lead to effective decision making to improve productivity and efficiency,” says Javid. Outliers’ unique approach to consulting and operational improvement results from their expertise in technology and a deep understanding of the challenges mining operations face, delivering rapid improvements over short periods. “Our consultants use their breadth of experience in technical, leadership and management roles in the industry and can also leverage the latest innovations in mine technology and delivery solutions,” assures Javid. “We don’t need to rely on external technical expertise. We have the agility to go into organizations to diagnose problems and correct them with a small team. More than
just consultants, we strive to deliver lasting solutions in mines by increasing the capability within our client’s workforce.” Building partnerships to bridge the gap “The needs of industrialisation have created a niche for specialists, but they can’t always communicate with each other, so the value these specialists provide can be lost. As a result, generalist consulting groups have emerged to service the sector,” explains Javid. “We consider ourselves as ‘bridgers’ of that gap in the mining industry to help companies effectively implement and take advantage of innovations like automation.”
Outliers Mining Solutions supports companies like Ferrexpo so they can maximise their investment in tech and innovation. “At Ferrexpo, we were able to quickly close the gap that existed in the knowledge, capability and capacity of their people. This allowed them to effectively utilise the technology they already had in place. We helped analyse their data and operations and gave the team the tools to make more effective operational decisions in real-time. This improvement delivered an increase of over 22% in truck productivity.”
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“ For a green steel product, you need to move away from the traditional technologies that use coke and filament gas for fuel, and towards electric arc furnaces and the DR processes” JIM NORTH
INTERIM CEO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FERREXPO
Drones Ferrexpo implemented drone surveys in 2019 at its seond original Ukrainian mine in Ukraine called Yeristovo, and is now in a position to roll out the process at its original mine, Poltava. “What took three surveyors two weeks to do, we can get done now in around two days using drones”, reveals North. “Some of our surveyors have trained to become drone pilots; taking place positions and feeding 18
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that digital information back to the office to convert into a data file and load into our planning systems. It’s dramatically improved the efficiency with which we can do surveying and mapping of the mine and, obviously improves the accuracy, because you're taking that chance for human error out of the equation. And we’re also improving safety by taking workers out of the hazards of the person/machine interface in the mine”.
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Autonomous evolution of the mining workplace North highlights the misconception around autonomy. “People think we're driving it because we want to reduce roles and the number of people deployed in the process”, he says. “Generally, that’s not the case. Pushing processes to be more efficient can result in less people involved, but not significantly. Mostly what we see happen is the role, instead of sitting in a truck drill
or dozer, transitions into a technician supporting the processes required. For example, the communications networks that actually run all this technology are extensive and need to be maintained. That creates new roles that didn't actually exist before”. Ferrexpo is partnering with ASI Mining, an American robotics company with decades of experience working with the likes of Ford and Toyota that were also part of the team delivering autonomous solutions ferrexpo.com
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At Proudfoot, our people are ‘all-in’ working with your people to deliver lasting value.
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PUTTING A HUMAN FACE ON CHANGE Two Proudfoot sr. executives discuss the Covid driven surge in demand and how they’re helping clients meet digital and operational change to achieve hard-results while focusing on people. JJ Van Pletzen and Jon Wylie are veteran mining experts at Proudfoot. They have almost sixty years’ experience between them. Van Pletzen says they’ve come a long way. ‘Our focus is far more about people now, aligning company operating systems with strategy and bringing all that together in a digital world.’ Wylie agrees. ‘The challenge in the digital world is to put people at the centre of any company strategy. Change happens on an individual basis.’
to meet growing demand. That stretches an organisation and that requires new skills and systems to meet those demands.’ Proudfoot specializes in helping clients focus on adopting technology and optimising that through the right operating model while engaging people – all the stakeholders. Making the most of work processes across the entire value chain and identifying and releasing the hidden millions in the operation. ‘When Jon talks about digital transformation, it’s all about helping clients humanize this process in addition to optimizing. That’s down to the way you manage. And, of course, you have to optimise before you digitise,’ says Van Pletzen.
‘Many think there is resistance to change in a business. There isn’t. There is resistance to how change is being led and created.’ Global mining faces huge geographical and cultural challenges and the pandemic has meant solutions to those challenges and the changes needed have been accelerated with once unimaginable speed. Wylie sites Proudfoot’s work with the Ukrainian based iron ore mining company Ferrexpo as a good example of how the obstacles of a Covid/climate change age are being met. ‘In a Covid world we are seeing pent-up consumer demand,’ says Wylie. This is sparking significant growth. ‘Mining companies such as Ferrexpo, providing raw materials, will be going through that demand cycle.’ There is a surge in new capital projects… a move to build new mines and expand capacity
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Experts in Training and Consultancy Services – Worldwide TTE International delivers high quality technical training and consultancy services to clients in the energy, engineering, process and mining sectors – delivering instruction either at our first-class UK facilities or on location at client operational locations across the world. Flexible and prepared to travel, our experienced trainers have delivered training in Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Oman, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.
We can work with your business to complete skills matrices, design and carry out training needs analysis and competency assessments. Supporting you with new training, upskilling or re-skilling your workforce, our programmes are accredited by internationally recognised awarding bodies and supported by externally audited quality systems and procedures.
Clients we work with: • Ferrexpo • Anglo American • BP • Shell • Marathon Oil • ICL • Lucite
Contact us today to discuss your training requirements
Tel: +44 1642 462266 • Email: gts@tte.co.uk
AUTOMATION RETROFIT LEADERS ASI Mining is the leading non OEM automation retrofitter in the mining industry. Since our first automation retrofit in 2006 with CAT 777s, we’ve continued to mature and scale. Today, we’re deploying AHS on 3 continents and have expanded our scope to provide autonomous solutions in multiple areas of the mine.
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FERREXPO
“We've been running continually since 2017, and the intention is to move to fullautonomous drilling as we expand the business. Once we're comfortable with the technology and our workforces have adopted fully, we'll move to the point where one driller can operate two or three drills at one time” JIM NORTH
INTERIM CEO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FERREXPO
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“ What took three surveyors two weeks to do, we can get done now in around two days using drones” JIM NORTH
INTERIM CEO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FERREXPO
Reduce energy consumption and improve recovery rates? How vertical grinding mills helped Ferrexpo achieve both Partner for positive change.
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FERREXPO
and our concentrators. And we've recently signed a deal for Weir to provide highpressure grinding rolls; the HPGR units, which we're going to use to expand our concentrator capacity and improve our crushing and grinding capability.” Allied to these key partners, Sumitec provides high-quality metal cutting tools, machine accessories and engineering equipment to meet the demands and challenges of the market and Outliers deliver mining optimisation and consulting services to improve mine performance efficiency.
for NASA’s rovers. “Working with ASI has allowed us to deploy an OEM-agnostic autonomous solution, so we can work with any truck across our operations”, explains North. “ASI can also help us make that truck autonomous truck. Caterpillars, Hitachis, Komatsus, Liebherrs… ASI can deliver the solution to get them to interact and work together and we don’t need to change out the entire fleet”. Partnering for success Part of Ferrexpo’s CSR programme involves developing local suppliers and supporting the communities it operates in. Allied to its local reach, a global focus on producing high-quality iron ore pellets requires leading tech partners like ASI (who bring skills to the site and help train local workers building the in-house skillset) and major OEMs like Komatsu. “Metso has been key to our development”, adds North. “They offer process technology for both our power lines
Green Steel “We, as an organisation, need to think about what COVID's taught us”, believes North. “If you think about health and safety and the well-being of people, we've been quite fortunate that we haven't been heavily impacted. I think it's taught us a lot about thinking outside the box. What are the issues you might not have in your risk register that could play out and impact your business? It's taught us to think more broadly in terms of impact”. With the increased move online via remote working and tech adoption, cybersecurity is critical. “Moving forward, to understand how we can protect the business with its data online while using online tools to communicate, we need to develop systems to protect ourselves from external sources”, pledges North, who notes the same care must be taken to avoid attacks on the environment with the push towards carbon neutrality. “Ferrexpo is well placed to increase production in a way that can produce the green steel of the future”.
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