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August 16, 2011 - ABB completed commissioning the low speed dual pinion mill drive and control systems at the newly reopened Copper Mountain super pit mine in British Columbia, Canada. The initial order was awarded in 2008. Engineering, delivery and commissioning of the complete drive systems are worth over $26 million.
The 18,000 acre mine site is located in southern British Columbia, 20 kilometers south of Princeton and had produced 1.7 billion pounds of copper prior to closing in 1996. It recently resumed operation in 2011, with estimated annual copper ore production of approximately 100 million pounds per year.
ABB.s scope of supply for the joint ABB Switzerland / ABB Canada project included the startup of a new semiautogenous (SAG) mill and two ball mills with three ABB low speed dual pinion mill drive systems. Each consists of the ACS 6000 frequency converter, converter transformers and two synchronous motors. In addition, ABB commissioned its renowned mill drive control and automation system 800xA.
ABB s dual pinion mill drive system operates at variable speed to allow increased availability of the complete production line, as well as increased production and grinding efficiency. The ACS 6000 motor control platform, based on ABB s revolutionary direct torque control (DTC) technology, allows for fast and accurate process control in combination with low energy consumption.
Jim O’Rourke, CEO of Copper Mountain, said The recently commissioned state-of-the-art ABB technology fulfills our high requirements for maximum control over the grinding process, improvement of productivity, energy efficiency and process reliability. The plant and its facilities are all working well and meeting our expectations. We are very happy with the outstanding overall performance the ABB team has shown during the entire project .
The Copper Mountain Mining Corporation holds a 75 percent stake in the mine, the remaining 25 percent stake is owned by Mitsubishi Materials Corporation. The current copper resource at Copper Mountain is estimated at 5 billion pounds of copper.
ABB is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 130,000 people.
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