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REPORT

SAG Mill Gearless Drives Go to South American Projects

In early September, ABB Group's Minerals Division announced it had won an order from Newmont Mining Corp. to engineer three gearless mill drive (GMD) systems to be installed at the Yanacocha Minas Conga oxide coppergold project in Peru. Fluor Corp. in Santiago, Chile, will act as EPCM contractor for the Conga project; Metso Corp. will be the mill supplier. ABB said after the project is approved by Newmont's board of directors, a new contract will be drawn up for ABB to proceed with fabrication and installation of the three drives. The current contract, according to ABB, includes engineering for a 28-megawatt GMD system for a 42-ft-diameter SAG mill, considered to be world's largest mill in diameter. In addition, it includes engineering for two 15.5-megawatt GMD systems for two 26-ft-diameter ball mills. The Conga project is located approximately 900 km north of Lima, at an altitude of 4,100 m (13,500 ft). It is near Newmont's Yanacocha mine, where an ABB GMD has been operating since early 2008. Meanwhile, Siemens' Industry Solutions Division reported it had received an order from Compaia Minera Antamina S.A. to supply gearless drive systems for a SAG mill and ball mill at the Antamina open-pit in Peru. Siemens said the award is worth approximately 20 million ($26.1 million) and is scheduled for completion in late 2010. The Antamina operation is located in north-central Peru's Ancash Region and is operated by the joint venture company Compaia Minera Antamina SA, comprising Xstrata (33.75%), BHP Billiton (33.75%), Teck Resources (22.5%) and Mitsubishi Corp. (10%). The mine is situated at an altitude of 4,300 m and extracts approximately 360,000 mt/d of ore. Siemens' scope of supply and services includes engineering, manufacture and delivery of the electrical equipment for the SAG mill and the ball mill. Simine Mill GD drive systems, rated at 20.1 megawatts for the SAG Mill and 11.1 megawatts for the ball mill, are specified. Associated transformers, protection equipment and operator-control devices are also included in the contract. evaluation project for the company's Kiruna mine automation system. AutoMine-Lite, which was released to the commercial market early in 2010, is a single loader automation system, designed for medium-sized mining operations. Based on Sandvik's AutoMine core technology, it is available for use on a range of Sandvik's LHDs.

Boliden Buys Sandvik AutoMine and LHDs

Sandvik Mining and Construction has been awarded a contract to deliver three AutoMine-Lite underground automation systems and two Sandvik LH517 LHDs to Boliden Mineral AB's Garpenberg mine in Sweden. Two of the AutoMineLite control stations will be mobile and installed in vans, with an additional control station at an office location. Sandvik said the system installations, to start in late 2010, are scheduled to be completed in early 2 0 1 1 . In addition, the agreement includes a supervisory contract for the automation system with on-site and remote support. The Garpenberg contract follows Sandvik's earlier announcement it was in the process of commissioning an AutoMine-Lite system for another Swedish operation, LKAB, as part of a testing and

Norniet Opens Parts Distribution Facility

Finnish underground mining and tunneling equipment builder Normet opened a global distribution center in Maarssen, Netherlands, in early September as part of a program to improve its spare-parts supply and distribution capabilities. The company said the center is a "milestone" in its strategy of continuously improving the quality of customer services and solutions, and its Life Time Care (LTC) spare parts business has been growing significantly. With the new distribution center. Normet said it will be able to serve LTC customers faster and more efficiently. Normet said it has partnered with CEVA Logistics, which provides supply chain solutions for large and mediumsize national and multinational companies globally. CEVA offers complete supply chain design and implementation in contract logistics and freight management.

Norwegian Firm Acquires Ore-sorting Systems Supplier

CommodasUltrasort, a provider of sensor-based ore-sorting systems, reported it has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Terra Vision. Terra Vision is the trade name of a Canadian registered company that offers automated ore-sorting solutions from initial feasibility testing to equipment sales and complete contract sorting lines to the Canadian and North American mining industry. Hartmut Harbeck, sales director, CommodasUltrasort Mining, said, "CommodasUltrasort currently has 18 sorting machines running in the

A typical control station for Sandvik's AutoMine-Lite underground automation system. Boliden recently announced it is installing three of these systems at its Garpenberg mine in central Sweden.

102 E&MJ OCTOBER 2010

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Canadian and North American market, in diamonds and industrial minerals applications. The acquisition of Terra Vision will strengthen our ability to provide local support to our existing customers and ensure that our new installations this year in base metals and industrial minerals become a commercial success for our customers." CommodasUltrasort is the mining division of the Norwegian Titech Group, a global provider of sensor-based, sorting systems. Claiming more than 2,200 installations in more than 30 countries, Titech Group is owned by TOMRA Systems ASA based in Asker, Norway. Timothy Elliott, managing director for geochemical and assay at Stewart Group, said: "We understand that the mining companies in the country are looking for faster and more cost-effective sample preparation and analysis services, and so we endeavor to provide the highest level of service available. Stewart Group can provide a comprehensive service for all key regions in Mongolia."

Mincom Sells Software Systems to Cliffs, Kazakhmys

Enterprise software provider Mincom recently noted that it has struck deals with two major mining companies Cliffs Natural Resources and Kazakhmys picto install major mining-related products. Mincom said Cliffs will standardize its global mining operations on Mincom Ellipse, and also will implement Mincom's Critical Inventory Optimization (MClO) analytics solution across the company's worldwide mining operations. Fully integrated with Mincom Ellipse, MClO automatically adjusts inventory levels to ensure the availability of critical parts while reduc ing inventory costs. Mincom also noted Cliffs has initiated a field-enablement project using Mincom Mobility, a suite of integrated mobile applications that automates field force operations using mobile devices such as laptops, tablets, PDAs, etc. Kazakhmys, one of the top 10 copper producers, has licensed Mincom's MineScape solution for mine planning and modeling, to streamline its process of geologic modeling, mine design and production planning. According to Mincom, by more efficiently scheduling mining work and production tracking, MineScape can improve the overall management of Kazakhmys' mining operations. It will also help speed deployment by enabling the creation of three-dimensional mine models, allowing multiple users to simultaneously update these models in real time. Kazakhmys is listed in the UK, with principal operations in Kazakhstan and the surrounding region. It is the largest copper producer in Kazakhstan, employing more than 67,000. The copper division includes 20 open-pit and underground mines, 10 concentrators, a zinc plant, and two smelting and refining complexes.

Stewart Group Expands Lab Service in Mongolia

Stewart Group, an international inspection, analysis and assay group, announced that it has expanded operations in Mongolia. A new fire assay laboratory has been added to the Stewart Mongolia facility in Ulaanbaatar, which can now provide a significantly broader range of services to mining customers in the country. The expansion is the second major development at the Mongolia facility in 12 months, after it became the first internationally owned laboratory in the country to achieve ISO/IEC 17025:2009 accreditation. Stewart claims as demand for geochemical and solid fuel analysis continues to rise in Mongolia and neighboring countries, it is now able to provide accurate analysis of a wide range of materials, including precious metals and solid fuels, within a minimal timeframe without the need to ship samples out of the country. Customers will benefit from reduced shipping costs and greatly increased sample turnaround times. In addition to analysis of gold, silver and platinum group metals, the Mongolian site can conduct multi-elemental analysis, coal and solid fuel analysis, trace element analysis by ICPAES, and sample preparation of solid fuel and geochemical materials. The expansion is the latest stage in the group's ongoing development of its global network of laboratories. Other recent projects include the opening of new sites in Germany, Liberia and South Africa as well as a partnership with Canadian firm G&T Metallurgical Services,

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OCTOBER 2010 E&MJ 103

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