In 2025, the Barroso Flyingbelt reached the significant milestone of 10 years of operation.
The system was designed as a link between the two quarries that supply raw material to the Barroso cement plant (at that time owned by the Holcim Group and, since 2022, owned by CSN Cimentos, the cement division of the Brazilian group Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN), one of Brazil’s leading industrial conglomerates operating in the steel, mining, logistics, cement and energy sectors).
In its early years of operation, the Flyingbelt was used solely to transport high-quality material intended to be mixed with limestone extracted from the nearby Caopeira Grande Mine, which was previously the cement plant’s main supply quarry. Since 2021, it has been the main raw material supply system, transporting an average of 2 million tonnes of limestone annually.
To date, the Flyingbelt has exceeded 15,000 hours of operation, transporting over 15 million tonnes of material, demonstrating not only the reliability and robustness of the technology, but also its low operating and maintenance costs.
