Multinational ASEA Brown Boveri (NYSE: ABB) and Zijin Mining, China’s No.1 gold producer, entered into an agreement to install state-of-the-art, ring-geared mill drives and control systems at the Veliki Krivelj copper mine in Serbia.
In 2018, Zijin signed a $350-million deal with Serbia’s Bor Copper Mine and acquired a majority stake in the Bor Copper project. It was one of China’s largest investments in the eastern European country to date
Located in the southern Bor District, Veliki Krivelj is a surface mining operation with an annual ore processing capacity of 10 million tonnes. It is part of the Bor Copper project, which includes three open-pit mines, an underground mine and a smelter, and in which Zijin has a majority stake.
The deal with ABB, which is part of a €200-million modernization strategy for the Bor Copper project, entails the provision of ring-geared mill drives and intelligent control systems for one SAG mill (2×6.5MW) and one ball mill (2×7.5MW), including electric control systems, drives, motors, transformers and end-to-end services.
According to Stephen Zhu, who leads ABB Mining, Aluminum and Cement in North Asia and China, the firm’s mill solutions will “reduce energy consumption, reduce mechanical stress, improve the service life of equipment, and boost operational performance.”