Newmont Mining Orders three Gearless Mill Drive Systems for Conga Project

ABB is to deliver three gearless mill drive systems for Newmont Mining's Conga copper/gold project in Peru. (Picture: ABB)

Newmont Mining Corporation has selected ABB for fabrication, delivery and installation of three gearless mill drive systems for their new Conga copper/gold project in Peru. Fluor is the EPCM contractor for the project, Metso will supply the mills.

Baden, Switzerland – ABB has won an order from Newmont Mining Corporation to deliver three gearless mill drive (GMD) systems for installation at Yanacocha’s Conga copper/gold project in Peru. It is a follow-up order from the contract for the GMD system engineering that ABB received in August 2010. Fluor Corporation is acting as the EPCM (engineering, procurement, construction management) contractor for this project. Metso Corporation will be the mill supplier. The Conga project has recently received full funding approval by the Board of Directors of Newmont and Buenaventura, the two main Yanacocha shareholders with 51.35 per cent and 43.65 per cent, respectively.

The contract includes the complete engineering and delivery of a 28 megawatt GMD system for a 42-foot semiautogenous (SAG) grinding mill. In addition, the contract includes the complete engineering and delivery of 15.6 megawatt foot mounted GMD systems for the two 26-foot ball mills. The 28 megawatt gearless motor will be manufactured in the well known ABB factory in Bilbao, Spain, whereas, the 15.6 megawatt systems will be produced and assembled in ABB’s GMD assembly factory in Basel, Switzerland. Acting as a variable speed drive, the GMD allows the mill to start smoothly, reducing mechanical stress, and fulfills the customer’s requirements for flexibility and adjustability of the process, enabling maximum control over the grinding process.

The Conga project is located in Peru, approximately 900 kilometres north of Lima, at an altitude of 4100 meters above sea level. The project is situated near Newmont’s existing Yanacocha gold mining operations where an ABB GMD has been operating successfully since early 2008.