A large Christie Microtiles video wall greets visitors touring the LKAB mine

Located north of the Arctic Circle, the Swedish multinational LKAB, specialized in the extraction of iron ore, has installed a huge video wall in the reception of its visitor center in which spectacular images of its processes are shown before starting the tour of the mine. This large display is made up of 192 cubos Christie Microtiles, according to the project designed and integrated by Electrosonic AB.

LKAB (Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Joint Stock Company), world leader in supply of iron ore pellets to the steel industry, It is owned by the Swedish state., with a sales volume of 31.000 million Swedish crowns (some 3.441 million euros). Its iron mines are among the most productive in the world, Although a differentiating and unique element is that the majority of its production is carried out underground and not in the open air., and that its rich magnetite mines are located in the north of Sweden, above the Arctic Circle.

In this sense, The company has developed very sophisticated extraction and pelletization methods that have led to the most ecological production of iron of all that exists.. Following this line, LKAB has inaugurated a research center in Koskullskulle, which also houses the reception center for visitors to the nearby Malmberget mine.

The construction of this R&D center was completed at the same time as a new level of production, called M1250 and located at a level of 1.250 meters underground, en la mina Malmberget. Both facilities, inaugurated by the King of Sweden, Charles XVI Gustav, They have advanced audiovisual equipment, whose protagonist is a giant video wall, composed of 192 cubes Christie Microtiles.

The AV system has been designed and installed by Electrosonic AB, based in Stockholm, in close collaboration with WSP, LKAB consultant. The main visitor reception space is flexible and open-plan, being able to accommodate 120 people in a classroom type layout.

HD images without visible pixels

A huge video wall made up of Christie MicroTiles (in configuration 16×12), dominate this space. With an overall image size of 6.5×3,7 metros, This impressive display system takes up little floor space and its brightness allows it to be used with the room fully illuminated, taking into account that it is in front of an exterior glass wall located on the other side of the space.

Besides, If automatic blinds are required in summer, During the arctic winter the video wall is very visible from outside the building, thanks to the fact that MicroTiles benefit from the advantages of both projection DLP like LED technology, offering considerably brighter images and a much richer color gamut than conventional LCD or plasma flat screens.

This large display is powered by a Christie SpyderX20 image processor, configured with eight inputs and the same number of outputs, which allows complete flexibility to place the images on the screen and that they are all projected at their maximum resolution, with eight ECU (electronic control units) of 1,066×1.200 pixels each.

Besides, thanks to the high resolution of MicroTiles modules, It is guaranteed that there are no visible pixels, regardless of how close the audience is to the screen.

Permanent inputs to the display include a Blu-Ray player; a high specification dual output computer mounted in the supply rack system; a digital video tuner (set top box decoder) and facilities to connect external or 'visitor' sources, like for example, laptops.

A media player is also used for the standard projection of the LKAB corporate video, denominado ‘Performance in iron making’ ('Good performance in iron production'), that informs visitors about the company's philosophy, its ecological processes and its products.

LKAB has spectacular high-resolution aerial images of its various facilities, that serve as a backdrop to formal company presentations, whose templates have been designed by the specialist Muscot Media to offer presentation standards of the highest level.

The main presentation room is equipped with a complete audio facility, equipped with a global control system that works with a device AMX. Adjacent to this is the meeting room., in which Electrosonic has also installed the AMX global control system, Equipped with a touch screen user interface controller.

Tour of the galleries

But the most surprising moment for many visitors to the LKAB Center is the tour of the Malmberget mine itself., with a structure of horizontal galleries, which in practice implies the possibility of accessing and visiting it entirely through 'roads', with a total of more than 600 Km. at a depth of 1.390 metros. In addition to the mineral extraction areas, houses crushing plants, workshops and transportation systems.

In the extraction of the mineral, hydraulic drills are used that drill long straight holes in the ground into which the explosives are introduced.. Blasting takes place at night, with the mine empty. The loose ore is broken up and then collected using various types of vehicles and transported to warehouses above the crushers., that break up the mineral into fragments of a length less than 10 cm.

The crushed ore is transferred by conveyor belts to high-speed cars that take it to the surface.. With the capacity to transport forty tons each, the wagons travel 17 meters per second. En la mina Malmberget, The main level of transport is located at the level of the 815 metros, and ore from the main extraction level, located at 1.250 meters deep, is moved on a conveyor belt 1,7 kilometers long.

The atmosphere of the mine has a ghostly touch, a setting halfway between Mad Max and the James Bond films. But it is not without a cozy touch, with a Hard Rock Café very close to the work level. All visitors receive a tracking device upon arrival, with the peace of mind of knowing that, from the control room, It is possible to check your location on the tracking screens.

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