ABB will supply a new gearless mill drive (GMD) system to Minera Escondida. The contract was awarded in June 2010 and equipment deliveries are scheduled for May 2011. This will be the fifth GMD system installed at Escondida. ABB’s deliveries will comprise an entire 15.7 MW GMD system for a 26′ ball mill, including transformers, ring motor and a complete electrical room entirely equipped.

These types of drives allow the mill to start smoothly, without any mechanical stress and fulfill the customer’s requirements for flexibility and adjustability to the process, enabling maximum control over the grinding process.

As of October 2002 four ABB GMD systems operate at Escondida’s site. The recently awarded system will be the fifth GMD system installed at the Laguna Seca concentrator, at an altitude of 3,200 m above sea level.

Cristian Riquelme, Technical & Commercial Responsible for Large Drives Systems at ABB in Chile, stated: “Gearless mill drive systems feature numerous benefits offering superior reliability, increased process availability, extended life span and highest energy efficiency. ABB has the widest experience on this technology. In 1969, ABB commissioned the world’s first gearless machine drive, which is still operating at the Ciment Lamberg-Lafarge cement plant in Le Havre, France”.