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Companhia Vale do Rio Doce – Sistema Norte Commences Operation of Real-Time Rail Management System Tucson, Arizona – September 6, 2002 Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) recently commenced operations of a Real-Time Rail Management System on its Northern Rail Line in Brazil. The system, developed and deployed by Modular Mining Systems of Tucson, Arizona, monitors and dispatches over 80 locomotives and 70 pieces of auxiliary track maintenance equipment on a 900-km single-track rail line between the Carajas Mining Complex and the Itaqui Port in Sao Luis. The system provides comprehensive management of CVRD’s pit-to-port rail system, tracks all rolling stock, monitors all vital signs in real-time, and supervises all trains. The system also supports simulation and planning, maintenance reporting, material management, and optimized train dispatching. "The Rail Management System is in line with the strategy of creating value to our shareholders,” states Jayme Nicolato Correa, Director of Logistical Operations at CVRD. “The system will allow us to increase the productivity of our assets by 5%, reduce costs by 3%, and increase operational safety. We are very pleased with the results of the project conceived by CVRD and implemented with extreme competence by Modular’s team—a perfect example of synergy." The system includes a communications network to ensure radio coverage along the entire rail line, including hot backup equipment and field-proven, data-radio components to provide maximum network reliability. The latest touch screen color graphics consoles and ruggedized computer processors for mobile equipment and locomotives provide sophisticated operator interfaces, on-board data communications, and fleet monitoring. Modular designed the computer network for centralized control to virtually eliminate downtime and employed GPS technology for train position monitoring. Modular uses differential GPS (DGPS) ground stations at strategic locations along the rail line to provide GPS corrections for accurate tracking of all mobile equipment. “We based our extensive Real-Time Rail Management System on CVRD’s great vision of the application of technology in the rail industry,” said Les Zoschke, Vice President of Product Development for Modular Mining Systems. The system can be extended to include in-cab signaling, as well as communications based train control. Most importantly, the Rail Management System can integrate all legacy systems for reporting and control over track switching, signaling, hot box and derailment indicators. ABOUT Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, is the largest diversified mining company in the Americas. Its core businesses include mining, cargo transportation, and power generation. CVRD shares are traded in the BOVESPA (VALE3; VALE5), NYSE (RIO; RIOPR), and LATIBEX (XVALO; XVALP). For more information visit: www.cvrd.com.br Modular, headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, is the market share leader in providing powerful information management solutions to meet the needs of both open pit and underground mining operations worldwide. Modular has sales and support offices located in key markets around the world. For more information on Modular, and its new system for rail management automation, visit: www.modularmining.com.
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