In today’s world, the factors that determine the competitiveness of economic and industrial enterprises have surpassed traditional boundaries. Due to digital transformations and the smartification of processes, a new era has emerged, and only those players who can keep pace with these changes will succeed. Sangan-Khorasan Steel Mining Industries Company, a leading company in the country’s mining and mineral industries, has, in this regard, first outlined a digital transformation roadmap. It is now rapidly progressing in technological transformations and technology development by completing fiber optic infrastructure, launching an intelligent energy distribution dispatching system, and establishing an artificial intelligence observatory for public relations and human resources training. These intelligent actions, by improving productivity and competitiveness, provide the foundation for realizing the company’s technological and innovative vision.

Given the unique, complex, and large-scale nature of the activities in the mineral industries, technological studies and advancements in this sector have largely focused on moving away from traditional methods and technologies, improving production efficiency, and minimizing environmental damage. Today, the mining and mineral industrial sector has entered a new stage of maturity and evolution under the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, enabling intelligent operations and qualitative and quantitative production growth based on new technologies. Moreover, due to technological developments in the mining and mineral industries, operational precision and speed have increased, the extraction and utilization of lower-grade reserves have become feasible, production costs have significantly improved, and at the same time, environmental damage is minimized through optimized production processes. In line with these developments and technological trends, Sangan-Khorasan Steel Mining Industries Company has made the updating of production and mineral processing technologies one of its priority strategies. This company, a pioneer in the country’s mining and mineral industries, has structured and targeted programs to align with these changes in the sector. The positive effects of these efforts can be seen in reduced production costs, enhanced technical knowledge, increased productivity, and conservation of energy and environmental resources.

The First Step in Development

The emergence of new technologies and the expansion of new technology applications such as smartification, the Internet of Things, etc., have significantly impacted the industrial and mining sectors. It can be confidently said that progress and development are driven by those who can utilize these tools to optimize and manage production processes and improve productivity. In this regard, Sangan-Khorasan Steel Mining Industries Company, a pioneer in using new technologies, has undertaken special measures to improve its performance and continue on a path of inclusive and continuous development, aligning with global technological transformations. To maintain its rapid pace in technology development and transfer, the company has outlined a digital transformation roadmap. This new initiative significantly influences the improvement of the company’s performance based on modern technologies. The importance of this roadmap lies in creating a flexible and suitable framework for enhancing organizational performance, facilitating better coordination with the external environment. In this strategy, trends and technological transformations in the mining and mineral industries are continuously monitored and analyzed, and by learning from leading companies, the digital transformation path of the organization is mapped out. Sangan-Khorasan Steel Mining Industries Company has begun collaborating with an international systems engineering and automation company to swiftly identify technological transformations in the mining and mineral industries and meet its organizational needs through their implementation.

Developing fiber optic infrastructure is one of the first actions taken by the company to support digital transformation, providing the necessary foundation for inclusive development. Additionally, the artificial intelligence observatory for public relations was launched to identify potential customers, gather new industry information, mine data from virtual spaces, improve media performance based on audience psychology, and gain a better understanding of social demands. The first phase of this observatory was unveiled at the 6th National Steel Festival. In fact, this observatory, by enabling the continuous analysis and monitoring of data and transformations, directs Sangan’s progress toward technology development. The company’s implementation of an intelligent dispatching system for distributing water, electricity, and gas is another step toward process smartification, playing a crucial role in optimizing energy consumption, preventing up to 40% of energy use. Smart energy consumption models for electricity and water, whose first phase is underway, can create a favorable environment for improving productivity by optimizing energy use, especially in a time when the energy imbalance has caused significant harm to the country’s mineral and metal industries, including the steel chain. Furthermore, the company is working on the first phase of smartifying its concentrate production unit, which can be seen as a strategic move to implement smartification processes across the country’s steel chain.

One of the main challenges in digital transformations and technology updates is the misalignment of human resources’ knowledge and skills with structural changes. Developing the necessary training programs and preparing human resources to meet these challenges is the most effective solution to bridge this significant gap. In this regard, Sangan-Khorasan Steel Mining Industries Company has organized training courses to enhance human resources’ preparedness for these broad transformations. This will help improve digital skills, reduce resistance to change, and ensure the company’s rapid transition to the digital world and technology development.

An Unparalleled Technology Development Model

Sangan-Khorasan Steel Mining Industries Company, with an annual production capacity of 5 million tons of concentrate and 5 million tons of iron ore pellets, is the largest producer of mineral products in the northeastern part of the country. Given its continuous use of the latest technologies in the production of mineral products, the company can be regarded as one of the most modern mining and industrial factories in the country. The factory’s production line consists of two separate sections for concentrate and pellet production. In the first stage, iron ore lumps, after entering the factory, pass through a screen and are transported via a conveyor belt to the mixing section with bentonite. After the mixer is loaded and the process is completed, the prepared mixture is directed to the pellet production section. In this stage, concentrate is again transported via a conveyor belt to rotating disc pelletizing bins. The pellets are prepared by the rotation of the discs to the appropriate size. Then, the raw pellets are screened and transferred to the firing stage on a conveyor belt, and particles that are smaller than the standard size are returned to the production process. The pelletizing furnace line includes 248 working pallets and is 168 meters long, moving sequentially back and forth inside the firing tunnel. After pellet preparation and passing through the screen, the product is sent to the storage pile, and the final product is then loaded onto trucks via a mechanized loading station.

The use of mechanized equipment in all operational stages and the return of fine products to the production process is a noteworthy feature of Sangan’s production lines. This minimizes waste generation and significantly reduces the emission of mining pollutants into the environment. It is also important to note that the company has always focused on the automation of processes and operations, as it reduces human error and enhances productivity. As mentioned, the smartification of the concentrate production plant is underway. Additionally, in a recent initiative, sampling of raw materials and products entering and leaving the factory by truck is now done automatically through an automatic truck sampling device. This equipment, which is the first of its kind in the country, enables mechanized sampling without operator intervention, significantly increasing the accuracy and speed of unloading and loading operations.

Another point of interest is the company’s ongoing attention to the development and widespread adoption of technology in the mining and mineral industries. For example, updating and developing technologies for the extraction and processing of low-grade iron ore and using it at an industrial scale is one of the key issues the company has focused on. The company is currently constructing a 2.5 million tons per year capacity plant for producing concentrate from hematite iron ore. This achievement is a result of the collaboration between Sangan-Khorasan Steel Mining Industries Company and knowledge-based companies and universities. Furthermore, the company is conducting research to remove sulfur from the gas emissions of the pelletizing unit, studying the applications of iron ore tailings in other industries, and investigating the causes of axial fan vibration. These are the latest research projects in progress, with proposals currently being received. In essence, one of Sangan’s strategic technology development approaches is leveraging the knowledge and promising results from scientific and research centers through research and development projects. The company also benefits from the potential of knowledge-based companies and domestic experts in its production capacity expansion projects. Digital transformation is carried out in collaboration with and planned by these centers, which is crucial for achieving industrial self-sufficiency and localization.

Finally, it should be noted that in its path toward technology development and transfer, Sangan-Khorasan Steel Mining Industries Company has launched a Mining Technology Park. This park plays a pivotal role in expanding the collaboration between technology-oriented and knowledge-based companies and mineral industry enterprises. It is worth mentioning that the company, through a 3,000 billion rial contract with knowledge-based companies, is accelerating its journey towards localization and, through successful outcomes from this investment, will prevent the outflow of 3.5 million Euros from the country. By utilizing the latest production technologies and smart tools, Sangan-Khorasan Steel Mining Industries Company can set an unparalleled example of technology development in the country.