ABB will be providing variable-speed drive systems to the Toquepala copper mine as part of Southern Peru Copper Corp.’s (SPCC) brownfield optimization and expansion projects, which aim to double the mine’s concentrator milling capacity from 60,000 to 120,000 tons per day. ABB is supplying two 25-ft gearless mill drive systems (GMD) of 15 megawatts and two complete high-pressure grinding rolls (HPGR) drive systems of 2 x 2,650 kilowatts.
The GMD systems, by removing critical mechanical components like ring-gear, pinion and gearbox, are about 4% more energy efficient than traditional fixed-speed mill drives, according to ABB.
The HPGR drive systems feature the RollXtend technology, aimed to extend the rollers’ overall lifetime and ease maintenance actions by application-specific control features.
For the optimization project, ABB is supplying an additional complete HPGR drive system with the same ratings and characteristics as the expansion.
This is the first time Grupo Mexico, the holding company for SPCC, will use GMDs.
“With a long track record of working with SPCC, ABB is very pleased to be continuing its successful partnership in helping the customer improve mining efficiency and productivity,” said Roger Bailey, managing director of ABB’s Process Industries business. “The robust solution being supplied combined with our best-in-class service offering, will provide the highest throughput, reliability and availability for the copper mine.”
