Sin categor | Intrafeca | Industria de Transformación Ferrosa

Intrafeca Has Innovative Equipment for Ferrous Transformation

Intrafeca Chairman, José Manuel Mustafá Flores pointed out, that in order to accomplish the transformation of ferrous material into cut stones or fused material, it must have appropriated equipment which provides the best quality to the product.

For this reason, Intrafeca has:

Shredding Equipment Power Sreen Shieftain, model 600
Hydraulic Excavator Caterpillar, model 330 BL
Front Loader Caterpillar, model 380 C

These three mentioned models are somehow the most outstanding equipment. However, its stock is much larger, being Intrafeca the pioneer in this field in Venezuela.

Why Is Iron Universal?

Iron is one of the most abundant and desirable metals in the planet, found even in the human body itself, provides a number of important health benefits – which is why it can be found in particularly large quantities in cereals, dried fruits and meat.

It is essential for humans, and can be found in a substance called hemoglobin in our blood. It guarantees the transport of oxygen to all the tissues in our body, besides providing oxygen to our muscles and the insides of our cells.

It can be found both inside and outside our planet: it has been identified in the sun itself and many other Milky Way stars, in the bodies of all living creatures, the earth, and the universe itself. In short: Iron is universal.

Iron is present in everything, being one of the most used materials in the world, especially in construction.

To obtain it, it must be refined, melted and shaped. It is usually mixed with carbon, to make steel.

The process for the creation of alloys and the sale of iron is similar to that of steel, a multi-purpose material, but especially used in bases, columns and frames of contractions.

To create the rebar, columns, foundation, tubes, plaques, and sheets, iron is used due to its malleability, which allows for the creation of different objects or tools, all which can have different shapes and levels of strength.

There’s no doubt that, as a construction material, iron and the alloys that can be used with it to create steel are key for the construction of any building.

Iron is trusty, is something that can be combined with other metals, it is resistance, greatly used and appreciated. It is the key element for the construction of frames, usually added to the foundation as support.

Iron, a Metal Desired for Its Value

Through metallurgy, metals can be found and worked. This is the branch that science, technology and art use to obtain industrial metals and minerals, starting from the mines, to help human kind.

First came copper, beaten and melted in the oven, to later be emptied in molds, permitting for the manufacturing of higher quality tools, in greater amounts. This is how the Bronze Age from the Metal Age of humanity came to be.

Through experience, different alloys were created – that is to say, the combination of two or more metals with the appropriate properties. This is how steel came to be, and with it, a new way of life for humankind.

Steel is more malleable, hard and resistant than copper, but unlike the latter, it requires higher temperatures to melt, and greater resources to mold. For this reason, not all people could make use of this precious metal.

Metals, metals, metals. How important they are for the creation of all types of objects – especially those associated with prestige and glitz.

Metals that were able to substitute stone, bone and wood tools for some more resistant to heat and cold, like bronze and that ever-popular steel.

Steel helped create weapons, tools, pots, accessories – both for personal use, and of religious importance – helped improve agriculture, create specialized work, and increased metalworking techniques.

Once precious metal purification techniques were perfected, the minting of coins begin.

Coins, resistant and of uniform weight and composition, made from minted metal in the shape of a disc and with the pertinent details as chosen by the appropriate authorities, which later became the most important payment method.

In romance languages, they are called “moneta”, latin word that comes from the place in which they were minted in Rome, an annex to the temple of Juno Moneta, goddess of memory, and protector of the craft.

In conclusion, steel owes a lot to the metals that preceded it, copper and bronze. But quickly, and in time, became a desirable metal, due to its malleability, strength and resistance, but also due to its close relationship with prestige and glamour.

SOLIDARIDAD and GĚRENS Post-Graduate School Join Forces to Boost Small-Scale and Artisanal Mining in Perú

August 16 2018 saw the signing of a mutual cooperation agreement between Solidaridad and GĚRENS Post-Graduate School, with the aim of creating awareness of artisanal and small-scale mining (or MAPE, its Spanish acronym), as well as collaborating by providing relevant information and connecting different groups of interest.

Present during the act were Solidaridad’s Country Manager Ada Lis Rossel; Solidaridad’s Gold Program’s Program Manager Franco Arista; GĚRENS Post-Graduate School principal, Dr. Armando Gallegos, and GĚRENS General Manager Dr. Rodrigo Prialé.

This alliance hopes to join both institution’s available resources in order to generate and spread knowledge about MAPE’s managing processes in other countries, as well as the celebration of activities, projects and collaborative investigations.

Solidaridad is part of Solidaridad’s Latin America’s Regional Center (Stichting Interkerkelijke Aktie voor Latijns Amerika), which boasts of a long history of research into making small-scale mining more efficient, resilient and responsible. It has a specialized program called “Gold Program” which researches sustainable development of the MAPEs, and whose aim is for small gold producers to become part of “sustainable commerce” through certification programs.

On the other hand, GĚRENS Post-Graduate School, in an effort to offer its innovative and relevant educational services for the country’s development, has identified the formalization and improvement of artisanal mining’s competitiveness as one of Peru’s greatest mining challenges, reason why it decided to join this alliance with Solidaridad.

Along that line, the Solidaridad-GĚRENS alliance will try to boost capacitation programs that will allow for the study of profitable and sustainable business models for the MAPEs so that both public and private sector professionals will have the best tools available to support the formalization of the MAPEs.

José Manuel Mustafá: Metallurgy and Humankind, Two Old Friends

Metallurgy, the art of obtaining and treating metals for the creation of alloys. Without a doubt, it is one of the most documented industrial activities, with importance historical precedent dating back to old age. Who hasn’t heard of the bronze wars, or the iron revolution? When we talk about metallurgy, its uses go from the simplest to the most complex ones.

When we speak about metallurgy, we speak of a highly complex discipline in which there is an important number of variables to consider, requiring the support of sciences such as physics, chemistry and practices such as engineering. Metallurgy is an applied science, reason why it must be studied beyond the theories, as historic problems such as the solidification or re-crystallization of metals remain unsolved.

Still, technological advances have allowed for great strides in this field, offering promising solutions. Many experts consider that the art of metalworking started in the Near East, near the Nile; the belief is that it was during the “Age of Metals” that the main historical knowledge of metals and the way to work them into household items started to form. Historically, the Age of Metals was divided into three different stages depending on the most-used metal at the time:

Copper Age: One of the first metals man used in its natural state. Dating back to the Neolithic. At the beginning, it was mixed with arsenic but later started being mixed with tin, which led to the creation of bronze.
Bronze Age: Started by mixing copper and tin. It was divided into several ages, believed to predate Christ by at least 4.000 years.
Iron Age: Was first recorded in the twelfth century before Christ. At the time, it was the most advanced known form of metalwork. Its strength and abundance made it more desirable than bronze, which it ended up replacing.

José Manuel Mustafá: Metallic Structures in Construction

The use of metals in the construction industry dates back to Ancient Greece times, where beams of wrought iron were used to build some temples. Nowadays, it is hard to imagine any type of construction that does not use metal as one of its base materials.

Steel is one of those materials that stands out due to its properties and uses in the construction of many different projects, such as buildings, bridges and railways, among others. However, conditions exist that make it and even more ideal material for any given work: the material’s availability in the area, the need to finish work in a speedy manner, small work spaces, crowded areas where the structure’s purpose would change with time, as well as open spaces such as public establishments or halls, etc.

On the other hand, despite the fact that metal structures are in high-demand due to their practicality, conditions may exist that limit their use, among which you may find:

Construction projects situated in areas with unfavorable weather conditions, like the sea, shore areas or industrial centers where its use is not favorable or affordable.
Buildings that require great dynamic efficacy.
Storage areas, laboratories and, generally, areas with a high fire risk.

While corroded metal constructions, product of environmental conditions, are a common sight, nowadays those issues have been greatly reduced in recent construction projects thanks to new, adverse weather-resistant composites as well as the application of protective treatments such as paint and specialized chemical additives.

Regarding structures, metallic ones should be designed to support both vertical and horizontal actions, just the same way concrete does. In the case of horizontal actions, these should be taken into particular account when it comes to the construction of buildings of great height, as it is precisely in these that these new findings can produce even more interesting results.

Generally speaking, the use of metallic materials and structures is very important for the construction industry, being highly beneficial so long as all possible risk factors are taken into accounts.

José Manuel Mustafá: Steel and Its Role in Human History

Steel and Its Role in Human History

Steel is one of the most abundant elements in our planet. Thanks to its characteristics, it has been a long time since it became one of humanity’s most important materials. Saying that its discovery — as well as the ways to use it — have shaped the world as we know it today, would not be an exaggeration.

Trains, ships, planes, cars, tools, guns, cooking utensils, knives, axes, accessories such as necklaces, structures like towers, bridges, and vehicles such as motorcycles are, among countless others, part of our daily life that would not exist if not for the use of steel as one of their main components. This demonstrates just how important this material has been for the whole of humanity.

Nowadays, it remains one of the main materials that the world’s economy revolves around, to the point in which the US decided to tax the material usually imported from China; a decision that will undoubtedly have worldwide ramifications and will greatly affect the material’s price.

What Made Steel Such an Indispensable Tool for Humanity?

It took some time before men understood how to best work the material, mainly because they lacked the necessary furnaces, which require high levels of heat in order to melt it. Centuries would go by before the first one was created, but once it did, steel became more valuable than gold, and was only used in accessories.

When it came to weapons, steel became fundamental in the creation of sword and knives Sharp enough to go through enemy armor, forever changing the way war was fought. So, as you can see, it has been a history-changing material.

Even today, constant technological advances help create new techniques and compounds that use steel as its main ingredient, allowing us to make even greater and better use of it while also reducing costs and increasing resistance. As such, we can be sure that the near future will see countless new inventions that will use this material as its main component.

Jose Manuel Mustafa | The Steel Industry
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Jose Manuel Mustafa | The Steel Industry

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Jose Manuel Mustafa | The Steel Industry

The iron industry is one of the most important industries of the world not only because of the money it enters, but also because of the importance of this material in the construction of elements that we use daily.

Airplanes, cars, motorbikes, trains, machinery in general, among others are some of the products that use steel as raw material. Not only that this material is necessary for their construction but also most of the tools with which they are made rely on steel.

Although its paramount importance for the world economic development, this industry has been affected by various factors that go from the reduction of imports, the reduction of growth of countries such as China: an aspect that affected the most important steel producer of the words, enterprises full of debts, to the scandals in Japan regarding the problems in the fabrication with byproducts of this material.

In Venezuela, SIDOR is the enterprise in charge of working with this material. It has endured a prolonged decrease in its production due to management problems that have not allowed this enterprise to get back in the path of success even if the enterprise was private and give important benefits to the Venezuelan economy.

A global market that is marked by the price fluctuations and the reduction of the demand, but with stocks at good levels, believes in the stabilization of China and the increase of the demand in order to give more jobs that go along with what is expected to be a vital sector of our society.

India is one of the countries that play an important role when it comes to steel in a global level. The demand has increased, the imports decreases but measures were taken in order to avoid that steel of other countries entered this countries to be commercialized in a mayor scale.