Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhniy Tagil has been experimenting with replacing the blast furnace feedstock.

‘The furnace charge used to contain the produce of 3 ore mining and processing enterprises, namely, those of Mikhailovsk, Kachkanar, and Vysokogorskiy – the last two members of Evraz Group like ourselves. We decided in November 2005 that we would stop buying from external sources and fully switch to Evraz suppliers, which would allow to reduce delivery costs and raise the number of orders we receive,’ the company’s spokesperson said.

The produce of Kachkanar is rich in vanadium and used in preparation of special kinds of metal. Converting to their feedstock requires some extra efforts but it has already proved to increase the daily productivity of the blast furnace by 3.5% due to magnesium oxide content in this furnace charge. The exhaust of spout per ton was reduced by 30 kilograms into the bargain.