The customer has always been the king for the Mines Division. It is now common knowledge that any reduction in alumina in iron ore fines mined results in substantial savings in the customer departments of the Mines Division -Sinter Plants and Blast Furnaces. Thus, it became a passi~n for the Mines Division to endeavour to reduce the alumina content in iron ore fines.

After mining, iron ore is crushed and washed to remove the impurities including alumina. The maximum possible reduction in alumina was achieved using such conventional means. Further reduction was only possible by selective mining, which is not in consonance with mineral conservation and scientific mining.

When the TOP (Total Operational Performance) team at the Mines Division put their heads together, it was suggested that water sprays, like those used in the Hot Strip Mill for strip cooling, could be tried for washing the iron ore fines more intensely. The team went ahead and implemented this idea initially in the Noamundi Iron Ore Mine. Especially designed water spray nozzles were procured and installed in the screens and classifiers, which resulted in an immediate reduction in alumina. Though the anticipated reduction was only about 0.1% in the classifier fines, the actual alumina reduction was found to be almost double. The same idea was then extended to the Joda East Iron Ore Mine with similar benefits.