Swedish-Swiss automation company ABB will supply its highest payload Koepe production hoist and associated infrastructure and safety systems to Australian mining company Oz Minerals to be implemented at the Prominent Hill mine in South Australia.
The contract is part of an ongoing A$400 million ($302 million) upgrade of the open-pit gold, silver, and copper mine at Prominent Hill. The hoist, designed and supplied by ABB, has a capacity of 39,400kg and is the strongest drivetrain ABB has ever installed in Australia.
The hoisting shaft provides access to mineral resources outside the current trucking mine plan that would have been uneconomical via a trucking operation from around 2033.
According to OZ Minerals, it will increase the annual underground mining rate, extend the mine life, reduce operating costs, lower emissions intensity, and reduce overall operational risk.
Stuart Cowie, Head of Process Industries at ABB Australia, said the project was necessary for the country's mining industry and metals security.
"The local supply chain and workforce also rely on the mine and at ABB. We're enabling it to continue for several more years with increased safety, higher production rates, and lower emissions," Crowe said.
The hoisting shaft capacity at the Prominent Hill mine is 6.5 million tonnes per annum.
In February 2022, ABB announced it would provide its MineOptimize product to Ioneer and its Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project in Nevada
