The open pit mining division of ABB Automation, a leader in power and automation technologies, has developed a software tool to calculate the return on investment (ROI) for electrical and mechanical retrofits/upgrades of open-pit mining machinery – shovels and draglines. This success was achieved in close cooperation with RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Open Pit Mining, in Germany.

An important consideration for decision making is the ROI time period. The newly developed ROI calculator is based on long-term investigations of mining machinery, data issued by the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration and by Info Mine Inc. The ABB ROI calculator evaluates the effects of the retrofit on energy consumption, maintenance costs, management & labour costs, impact on operating time, productivity, and many other factors.

Using a computer-based calculation model, the ABB ROI calculator provides reliable information about the potential payback period and displays the result on annual production and maintenance costs, as well as other data. To achieve the highest results, comprehensive case studies are available to meticulously plan refit-scenarios for large machinery, such as draglines.

The ABB Centre of Excellence for Open Pit Mining has more than 50 years of experience in electrical engineering and automation of mining machinery. RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Open Pit Mining in Germany has been developing state-of-the-art mining technologies since 1966.