MINING
The LKAB mine in Kiruna, Sweden, is the world’s largest underground iron ore mine.
The hoist will have the strongest drivetrain ever installed by ABB in Australia. “I think that the Prominent Hill shaft is a great story,” says Jonsson. “The mine could not go any deeper with the trucking solution – it would not have been able to operate at the next level down. It would not have been possible to meet their sustainability goals, which were ambitious, but also from a cost and productivity point of view, trucking was no longer an option. And not only that, they will
increase product production volume from 4.5 million to 6.5 million tonnes. The shaft and hoist will extend the lifetime of the mine by several more years, with increased safety, and higher production rates and lower emissions. We are getting close to finalising that project now. It is due to become operational by the end of this year.” The other example is from Sweden at the LKAB mine at Kiruna. It is the world’s largest underground iron ore mine. “LKAB is a very
interesting project because it is so massive. It is an underground mine where we currently have thirteen hoists in operation. We have just completed a ten-year project to modernise seven of them. “The mine has more than 400km of paved
road underground. We have been providing hoist solutions with them for more than 70 years – we have been collaborating with them on developing new technologies and building new standards and setting new standards that we will later put into our standard product offering and roll out to the rest of the world. “And we are currently also looking into building a state-of-the-art operation system that so that they will have just one single operator station, not in the mine but next to it, where one operator can optimise and work with all these 13 hoists at once. That would be a very interesting next step for us to take together. “This is one of the world’s largest and
most productive mines, and the solutions we have put in place have been designed around the need to future-proof it. We have delivered an upgrade that ensures the flexibility necessary for the long-term success of operations for at least the next quarter of a century. So we are creating the future with our customers.”
ABB have modernised seven of Kiruna’s 13 hoists. 36 | July 2025 |
www.hoistmagazine.com
With ABB’s commitment to long-term solutions, the way forward is future-proofed.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55
