ABB awarded $27m

ABB has won an order worth about $27m from Swedish mining company Boliden to supply gearless drive systems for two new grinding mills that will increase production at a Boliden copper mine.

The gearless mill drives will be installed at Boliden’s Aitik mine, located near Gällivare in northern Sweden, where they will power two new 38’ autogenous grinding mills.

At 22.5 megawatts each, the mill drives will be the most powerful in the world when they become operational at the end of 2009. They will drive mills with a capacity to grind about 2,200 tons of ore per hour each.

With this expansion, the mine’s life will be extended to at least 2025 and production capacity will double to 36 million tons a year.

An autogenous mill uses large pieces of ore to grind smaller pieces in a large rotating drum. The mill and its gearless drive is one of industry’s largest installations and one of the pivotal applications in a concentrator plant.