12 million tonnes of iron ore waiting to be extracted down there

I took this picture at Las Truchas, one of the five mines our Group has in Mexico. It was quite amazing to learn from Raúl Álvarez, a geologist who has been working at the mine for more than 22 years, that the deposit in the background of the image will provide about 12 million tonnes of iron ore (one of the raw materials used to make steel) in the next 8 to 12 years.

An arid landscape (good location for a far west film), a dry heat, the grey of the magnetite and the red of the hematite colouring all the extension of mineral until where the sight can see… and, suddenly, an explosion! Everyday, between 2 and 3pm, coinciding with the change of shift, a controlled blasting takes place to continue extracting the mineral.

Las Truchas is one of the mines our Group has around the world. Thanks to them, we currently meet some 46% of iron ore needs with our own mines, and the plan is to increase this self-sufficiency even further. If one picture is worth a thousand words, you can say that this picture is worth 12 million tonnes!

Collaboration: Internal Communications team, ArcelorMittal Lázaro Cárdenas