ABB wins 40-t Koepke hoist order from OZ Minerals

ABB has won a large order for its highest payload Koepe production hoist, associated infrastructure, and safety systems from Australian mining company OZ Minerals. The contract will help to ensure efficient processing performance and a long service life as part of an ongoing US$400 million shaft expansion at the Prominent Hill gold-silver-copper mine in South Australia.

The hoist, which will be designed and supplied by ABB, has a capacity of 39,400 kilograms and the strongest drivetrain that ABB has ever installed in Australia. ABB specialists will also supervise installation and commissioning.

The Prominent Hill mine began operations in 2009 as an open pit mine, but it is now an underground mine producing 4.5 million tonnes per annum, moving to between 4.5 and 5.0 million t/y from 2022 via a trucking operation. The hoisting shaft provides access to mineral resource outside the current trucking mine plan that would have been uneconomical via a trucking operation from around 2033.

The additional hoisting capacity will increase the annual underground mining rate, extend the mine life, reduce operating costs, lower emissions intensity, and reduce overall operational risk, according to OZ Minerals.

Once operational, the installation at Prominent Hill will have ABB Ability Safety Plus for hoists, a suite of mine hoist safety products that brings the highest level of personnel and equipment safety available to the mining industry. It is the first fully SIL 3 (Safety Integrity Level) certified suite of solutions for hoists, rigorously examined and certified by an independent global functional safety certifying body, and strictly developed in accordance with the International “Safety of Machinery” standard IEC62061.

The products include Safety Plus Hoist Monitor (SPHM), Safety Plus Hoist Protector (SPHP) and Safety Plus Brake System (SPBS) including Safety Brake Hydraulics (SBH).

For more information on the company's hoist systems, visit www.ABB.com.