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    ABB–Harmony Gold Eva Copper deal: electrification takeaways for mine engineers

    April 15, 2026|

    Reviewed by Joe Ashwell

    ABB–Harmony Gold Eva Copper deal: electrification takeaways for mine engineers

    First reported on Australian Mining

    30 Second Briefing

    ABB has signed an agreement with Harmony Gold to supply power and automation solutions for the Eva Copper project in Queensland, targeting higher plant efficiency as copper demand rises. The deal is expected to cover integrated electrification and process control systems for the greenfield operation, enabling coordinated management of crushers, mills and material handling. For engineers, the move signals continued investment in high-availability electrical infrastructure and digital control at large-scale Australian copper projects as they move from design to execution.

    Technical Brief

    • Agreement centres on ABB’s integrated power and automation platform tailored to large greenfield copper concentrators.
    • Harmony Gold’s Eva Copper site in Queensland will be configured as a fully electrified processing operation.
    • ABB scope is expected to include substation equipment, MV/LV distribution, drives and motor control centres.
    • Coordinated control will extend across primary crushing, grinding, conveying and downstream plant auxiliaries.
    • Digitalisation elements likely cover advanced process control, condition monitoring and remote diagnostics for critical assets.
    • High-availability design of electrical infrastructure targets reduced unplanned downtime in remote North Queensland conditions.
    • Standardised ABB hardware and software across plant areas should simplify spares, maintenance training and lifecycle support.
    • Similar integrated electrification packages are increasingly being specified on new Australian base metal projects for capex–opex optimisation.

    Our Take

    Eva Copper already features in our coverage via Aggreko’s 15‑year PPA with Harmony Gold for what is described as Australia’s largest off‑grid renewable‑hybrid power plant, so ABB’s role here likely has to mesh with a relatively complex, renewables‑heavy power architecture rather than a conventional grid‑tied supply.

    ABB has been rolling out its Automation Extended programme and System 800xA 7.0 DCS across continuous‑process plants, and those recent launches suggest the Eva Copper contract will probably be a showcase for incremental automation upgrades over life‑of‑mine rather than a one‑off control system install.

    Copper projects dominate the energy‑and‑automation angle in our mining database, and ABB’s parallel work on AI‑enabled energy management indicates that Harmony Gold’s Queensland asset could be an early adopter of AI‑assisted power and process optimisation once in steady‑state operation.

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    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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