ABB GMD and RMD for Harmony’s Eva Copper Mine: grinding design notes for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on International Mining – News
30 Second Briefing
ABB has secured a contract to supply both gearless mill drive (GMD) and ring-geared mill drive (RMD) systems for Harmony Gold’s Eva Copper Mine Project, a new open-pit operation about 75 km north of Cloncurry in northwest Queensland. The package will cover large SAG and ball mill installations, combining high-torque GMDs with RMDs for smaller mills to optimise grinding circuit flexibility and electrical efficiency. For process and electrical engineers, the choice of mixed GMD/RMD architecture signals a focus on variable-speed control, reduced mechanical components and lower maintenance in a greenfield copper concentrator.
Technical Brief
- Mixed GMD/RMD configuration allows differential speed ranges between primary and secondary grinding stages.
- Gearless drives reduce gearbox requirements, cutting rotating mass and associated alignment and lubrication tasks.
- Ring-geared drives on smaller mills retain conventional pinion arrangements, easing spares and maintenance planning.
Our Take
Our database shows multiple 2026 items on ABB’s newer ABB Ability platforms and AI-enabled energy management, suggesting the Eva Copper Mine in northwest Queensland is likely to be an early adopter of ABB’s more data‑rich grinding and power-control stack rather than a legacy configuration.
With Aggreko already contracted for a long‑term hybrid power facility at the Eva Copper Mine, ABB’s GMD/RMD package positions the project as a testbed for tightly integrated electrical and process optimisation in off‑grid Australian copper operations, which could become a reference model for other remote Queensland sites.
Harmony Gold’s role in this Australian copper project stands out in our coverage, where Harmony is more often associated with gold assets in Africa; this diversification into base metals in Queensland may give it additional leverage to secure advanced OEM technology packages like ABB’s on more favourable terms.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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