New sorting plant secures future production in Malmberget
LKAB's new sorting plant in Malmberget is one of the largest industrial projects in Gällivare in recent years. When the plant is completed in 2028, it will replace the current facility from the 1950s and form a central part of future production.
The old sorting plant has long been limited by both age and space. Regular and extensive maintenance has been necessary, while variations in the quality of the raw ore have meant that full capacity has not been utilized. Building a new one gives LKAB a facility that is designed from the ground up for today’s and tomorrow’s needs.
“It is a large project with great significance. This is a prerequisite for us to be able to process more ore here in Malmberget”, says Monika Sammelin, LKAB’s area manager for Malmberget.
More capacity
The new sorting plant will be sized to handle 24 million tonnes of magnetite ore and one million tonnes of hematite ore each year. Here, the ore is crushed, screened and magnetically separated, a crucial first step before the raw material is further enriched and turned into fines and pellet products. The modern design provides a more stable and predictable process, even with varying raw material quality. It also includes technology to separate steel fiber from the rock reinforcement, which reduces wear in downstream facilities.
The new sorting plant will be sized to handle 24 million tonnes of magnetite ore and one million tonnes of hematite ore each year.
Underground raw material pockets
The facility is being built next to the existing plant and will be one of the largest buildings in LKAB’s history. The main building houses advanced process equipment, large underground raw material pockets and extensive logistics solutions. In total, the project comprises around 27,000 square metres of building components and almost one kilometre of track. Site clearance, earthworks, rock loosening and the establishment of new roads are currently underway. In the coming years, the construction of the building’s prefabricated and cast-in-place parts and the installation of process equipment will follow. The project involves thousands of tonnes of structural steel, large quantities of concrete and advanced installation of electrical power, ventilation and control systems.
Enabler for new business areas
“Right now we have about 85 people on the project. When we are at our peak in the summer–autumn of 2027, we expect there will be about 350 people working at the same time”, says Mikael Uusitalo, project leader.
The new design reduces noise and dust. At the same time, the plant is being prepared to be able to handle soil waste in a way that supports future production of apatite and critical minerals. When the new sorting plant comes into operation in 2028, the foundation will be laid for stable and competitive production for a long time to come.
