According to ABB, the Cerro Verde order was valued at more than $41 million and was placed by consultant Fluor in Vancouver, Canada, for client Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde S.A.A., of which Phelps Dodge has a 53.56% equity interest. The remaining interest is held by SMM Cerro Verde Netherlands B.V. (21%), Compania de Minas Buenaventura S.A.A. (18.5%) and other minority shareholders through shares publicly traded on the Lima Stock Exchange.

ABB’s scope of work included instal lation and commissioning of four gearless ball mill drive systems including ring motors, transformers and E-houses with cycloconverters. ABB also supplied four high pressure grinding roll drive systems, each driven by two watercooled ACS 1000 drive systems, with transformers and motors. Various conveyor and pump drive systems, harmonic filters and spare parts were also part of the order. In total, 24 medium-voltage ACS 1000 Series converters were delivered to Cerro Verde.

As reported in January (E&MJ, “Cerro Verde Sulphide Project Ships First Copper Concentrate,” January/ February 2007), the new Cerro Verde concentrator is expected to reach full production during the first half of 2007, tripling production from about 100,000 mt/y of copper produced from oxide ores to 300,000 mt/y produced from both oxide and sulphide ores. The expansion also is expected to produce more than 2,000 mt/y of molybdenum. A total of about 1 billion mt of sulphide ore reserves averaging 0.51% copper will be processed through the new concentrator. Mine life will be extended by about 26 years. Capital cost to develop the expansion totaled $850 million.