Denmark’s FLS has picked up US$47 million of equipment orders for banded hematite quartzite (BHQ) iron ore beneficiation in “South Asia”. The unnamed buyer is getting the world’s largest high-pressure grinding roll crusher and filtered tailings system, nine stirred mills, advanced flotation technology and concentrate thickeners.
FLS products business line president Qasim Abrahams said the company’s ability to deliver high-capacity beneficiation solutions at scale was a factor in the order, as was “the strength of our customer relationships”.
While the relationship didn’t produce a customer name, most South Asia BHQ is mined in India and Mumbai-based Lloyds Metals & Energy is in the middle of a multi-billion-dollar expansion at its major Surjagarh operation in Maharashtra.
FLS says its beneficiation equipment is expected to be commissioned in 2027-2028.
Lloyds Metals says BHQ, typically low-grade iron ore that needs beneficiation to remove silica and increase its iron content for steel making, has historically been viewed as waste material in India.
Surjagarh has reported reserves of 706 million tonnes of BHQ and Lloyds Metals wants to more than quadruple the site’s current 10Mt per annum iron ore production over the next five years.
“Lloyds Metals has pioneered advanced beneficiation technology to upgrade BHQ into a high-grade iron concentrate, unlocking its true potential as a valuable resource for the steel industry,” the company says.
“Exemplifying a waste-to-wealth strategy, BHQ, a low-grade iron ore with iron bands of hematite and quartzite ranging from microns to millimetres in size, typically containing 20-35% iron, making its direct use in steelmaking impractical, is now being converted into high-grade iron ore in our facility at Hedri.”
