Four Sandvik jumbo drill rigs are being used by Brazilian tunnelling contractor throughout excavation of a record breaking 20.5 m wide tunnel; designed to house four conveyor lines to convey iron ore to dockside ship loaders in a new port.The project, the Porto Sudeste, is located in Sepetiba Bay, close to Itaguai City some 80 km south west of Rio de Janeiro City. The new port is owned by LLX Logistica SA and will allow the company to double its capacity for shipping iron ore to 100 Mt/year.
This increased capacity will allow MMX (Mineração Metálicos SA) – and also owned by Eike Baptista – to increase production of its Serra Azul ore mines in Minas Gerais. The port will occupy a 52 acre area and includes a storage capacity of 2.5 MT. Water depths will also be increased to 21 m together with construction of offshore berths to handle large ocean going vessels such as Cape size and VSCC.
The new terminal will be used primarily to export iron ore mined by MMX. It is located some 100 km north of the company’s existing terminal at Campos.