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SPECIALIST EQUIPMENT


Gold and cold


Ruggedised PLCs boost processing uptime at Lapland gold mine


PLC robustos aumentar el tiempo de actividad de procesamiento en la mina de oro de Laponia


Robuste Verarbeitung Steuerungen steigern die Betriebszeit in Lappland Goldmine


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gnico Eagle’s gold mine in Finland which is 150km inside the Arctic circle near the town of Kittila. With an estimated lifetime to


2037, Kittila’s reserves are estimated at almost 33 million tonnes. Te mine employs more than 600 staff and contractors, most of whom are local residents, making a big contribution to the regional economy. Ore was originally mined from two open pits, starting in 2008. Since 2010,the mining has moved underground. Some 3,000 tonnes of ore is currently transported daily to the surface crusher using underground haul trucks via a 3km-long ramp access system. ABB upgraded the automation


system at Agnico Eagle’s gold mine in Lapland, with eight of its latest ruggedised PLCs for controlling equipment in harsh conditions and extreme climates. Te PLCs will control the sedimentation process of the concentrating mill at Europe’s largest gold mine.


ABB won the original contract for the main automation system at the gold mine, and configured and installed electrical automation based on its 800xA Extended Automation system and industrial IT architecture. Te project involved a large amount of ABB automation components including ABB’s 800 series operator interface panels and AC500 PLCs for the underground control of pumps, air conditioning, the motors used in ore


Springtime, as temperatures can swing between -25 and +15˚C from night to day


36 INTERNATIONAL MINING ENGINEER


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