In early September, ABB Group’s Minerals Division announced it had won an order from Newmont Mining Corp. to engineer three gearless mill drive (GMD) systems to be installed at the Yanacocha Minas Conga oxide copper-gold project in Peru.
Fluor Corp. in Santiago, Chile, will act as EPCM contractor for the Conga project; Metso Corp. will be the mill supplier. ABB said after the project is approved by Newmont’s board of directors, a new contract will be drawn up for ABB to proceed with fabrication and installation of the three drives. The current contract, according to ABB, includes engineering for a 28-megawatt GMD system for a 42-ft-diameter SAG mill, considered to be world’s largest mill in diameter. In addition, it includes engineering for two 15.6-megawatt GMD systems for two 26-ft-diameter ball mills.
The Conga project is located approximately 900 km north of Lima, at an altitude of 4,100 m (13,500 ft). It is near Newmont’s Yanacocha mine, where an ABB GMD has been operating since early 2008.
Meanwhile, Siemens’ Industry Solutions Division reported it had received an order from Compañia Minera Antamina S.A. to supply gearless drive systems for a SAG mill and ball mill at the Antamina open-pit in Peru. Siemens said the award is worth approximately €20 million ($26.1 million) and is scheduled for completion in late 2010.
The Antamina operation is located in north-central Peru’s Ancash Region and is operated by the joint venture company Compañia Minera Antamina SA, comprising Xstrata (33.75%), BHP Billiton (33.75%), Teck Resources (22.5%) and Mitsubishi Corp. (10%). The mine is situated at an altitude of 4,300 m and extracts approximately 360,000 mt/d of ore.
Siemens’ scope of supply and services includes engineering, manufacture and delivery of the electrical equipment for the SAG mill and the ball mill. Simine Mill GD drive systems, rated at 20.1 megawatts for the SAG Mill and 11.1 megawatts for the ball mill, are specified. Associated transformers, protection equipment and operator-control devices are also included in the contract.
