Russia-based leading steel producer Metalloinvest has announced the launch of production of a new product at its subsidiary OEMK.
Accordingly, the company has launched a ball rolling facility with an annual capacity of 43,000 mt of grinding balls with a diameter of 100-120 mm, weighing 4.6 kg and 8 kg, and of second and third hardness groups in line with GOST 7524-2015. The products are destined for the company’s own needs; however, shipments to third-party customers are not excluded, the company stated. The construction of the ball facility was started in September 2019, with Metalloinvest’s investment at around RUB 10 billion and with a Chinese engineering company WISDRI being the main supplier of process equipment.
“This is an important project for Metalloinvest under the scope of synergy. The production of grinding balls at OEMK will reduce iron ore production costs at Lebedinsky and Mikhailovsky GOKs as a result of optimized delivery logistics, reduced transportation costs and guaranteed production quality. The next step will be to expand the product range in line with market demand”, managing director of OEMK, Sergey Shishkovets, commented. Grinding balls are used for ore crushing in ball mills at mining and processing enterprises.