ABB's Gearless Conveyor for Copper Mine
ABB Ltd.(ABB) recently received an order from Tenova TAKRAF to provide electrical equipments, including the new gearless conveyor drives, for the El Teniente mine, located in Codelco, Chile. Presently, the mine is undergoing expansion, which will extend the mine’s operation for the next 50 years.
The overall expansion is estimated to cost about $550 million, of which the electrification of the new gearless overland conveyor is a part. ABB expects to complete the electrification of the first set of conveyors by the third quarter of 2013. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
ABB’s expertise in gearless drive technology along with its cooperation agreement with Tenova TAKRAF -- one of the leading companies in the area of mining and bulk material handling equipment -- mainly worked in favor of the company winning this order. Both the companies have close association with Codelco when the feasibility study was conducted and has also enabled both ABB and TAKRAF to develop the gearless conveyor drive model that strongly fit the project’s needs.
The new conveying drive system is expected to increase conveying capacity of the mine at Codelco to more than 12,000 tons by 2025 on an hourly basis. In addition, these gearless conveyor’s are also eco friendly as they are non pollutive compared to the diesel trucks, thereby reducing the carbon presence in the mine.
Further, the drive system installed by ABB is specially designed to provide for power back into the grid during electrical braking and regenerative operation. These unique and exclusive features are expected to increase the overall efficiency, availability, reliability and productivity at the El Teniente copper mine.
Based in Zurich, Switzerland, ABB Ltd. is a power and automation technology company and currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Some other players in the same industry, which can be considered buying at the moment are Franklin Electric (FELE), Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI), and Emerson Electric Company (EMR) all have a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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