The upcoming phase of ABB’s involvement in the S11D operation will be to extend the electric power system to the excavators, stackers, reclaimers and conveyors at the mine itself. The first phase was to install and commission the project’s primary power transmission substation.
ABB has won a $103 million contract from Vale to install electrical and automation systems at the Brazilian mining company’s S11D iron ore mine in the Carajás region of northern Brazil, as part of a major capacity expansion.
This order, said ABB, follows a previous $140 million contract won by ABB for the first phase of the S11D project, for supplying and installing automation and electrical equipment for the process plant.
Under terms of the new order, ABB will supply a 230-kilovolt in-feed substation to connect the mine to the electricity grid, as well as 42 secondary substations. These secondary substations will be contained in ABB’s e-houses-prefabricated, walk-in, modular, outdoor enclosures designed to house a range of electrical and automation equipment. ABB will also supply the motors powering the mine’s conveyor belts.
ABB’s first contract for S11D, announced in September 2012, involved installation and successful commissioning of the primary transmission substation, the first of its kind in Brazil. In the next phase, ABB will extend the electrification system to the excavators, stackers, reclaimers and conveyor systems at the mine itself.
S11D’s truckless transportation methods will use conveyors to transport rock and ore, a system intended to lower carbon emissions, reduce operating costs and improve safety.
