Industrial Automation Magazine India

LKAB extends ABB service agreement for hoists at Swedish mine

Published on : Wednesday 01-09-2021

ABBs service agreement with LKAB covers twelve hoists at Kiruna mine and has been extended until at least the end of 2023.

Västerås, Sweden, August 31, 2021 – Global technology company ABB has signed a long-term agreement with LKAB to provide service to twelve mine hoists and now of hoisting motors at the Kiruna mine. Kiruna in Northern Sweden is the largest underground iron ore mine in the world, producing more than 85,000 tonnes per day.

ABB has provided LKAB Kiruna with maintenance and hoist cycle optimisation to maximise efficiency and increase capacity at the mine since 2010. The new contract extends these services to the end of 2023 with an agreement that LKAB may sign up for a further three years on a rolling basis.

Most of the ore mined at Kiruna is at depths of more than one kilometre, with large solid slabs of iron ore deposits extending several hundreds of meters down into the ground. Local ABB engineers, supported by ABB globally, have worked on site at Kiruna to increase hoist capacity through a reduced hoist cycle time to optimise production. They have improved equipment use, balancing capacity and wear and tear of the hoist equipment.

"LKAB places great emphasis on refining every element of the underground mining process, in order to make it as efficient as possible," said Peter Ylivainio, Senior Maintenance Engineer at LKAB. "Mining ore at great depths is a logistical challenge that places demands for a well-functioning infrastructure and safe and resource-efficient production, with well-developed production methods and processes vital. We have a long successful relationship with ABB and their local presence, global expertise and remote operations technology support our goals."

"This new agreement means ABB will ensure optimal capacity, greater efficiency, lower energy consumption and extended equipment lifecycles across control systems, motors, drives as well as the hoists up to 2023 and beyond," said Erik Kjellgren, Strategic Account Manager, ABB. "Our experienced team of engineers provides regular support to LKAB and we look forward to seeing increased benefits for our customer in terms of insights and actions to optimise equipment performance."

The hoists are the main artery of the production flow at the Kiruna mine as they raise the ore hundreds of meters, from the sublevel to ground level. Their continuous operation is critical for safety and to prevent costly interruptions to production. LKAB's extended service agreement with ABB is designed to ensure the maximum reliability and availability for the hoist control system, motors and drives located both above and below ground.