ABB announces industry-first for sustainable mining

Based on a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study, the EPD highlights ABB’s commitment to transparency, environmental responsibility and supporting customers in making informed decisions on sustainability in their supply chains.

ABB analysed the environmental impact of a ring motor across its entire life cycle – from supply chain and production to usage and end-of-life disposal. The study was conducted for a ring motor of a semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill with an installed power of 24 MW and was based on a reference service life of 25 years.

“Sustainability is at the core of our purpose at ABB, influencing how we operate and innovate for customers,” said Andrea Quinta, sustainability specialist at ABB. “By earning the Environmental Product Declaration for our ring motor, we emphasize our environmental stewardship and industry leadership for this technology. We adhered to the highest standards throughout this process, as we do in the ABB Ring Motor factory every day. This recognition highlights to the mining industry what they are bringing into their own operations when they work with ABB.”

The comprehensive LCA was conducted at ABB’s factory in Bilbao and was externally verified and published in accordance with international standards, ISO 14025 and ISO 14040/14044. It will remain valid for five years.

The ring motor, a key component of the GMD, is a drive system without any gears where the transmission of the torque between the motor and the mill is done through the magnetic field in the air gap between the motor stator and the motor rotor.  It optimizes grinding applications in the minerals and mining industries by enabling variable-speed operation, leading to significant energy and cost savings.

ABB’s commitment to sustainability is highlighted through its Real Progress initiative and the publication of the EPD directly shows how GMD solutions reduce environmental impact while enhancing performance. This aligns with insights from ABB’s white paper ‘Unleashing the Power of Gearless Technology’, which emphasizes the role of GMDs in driving innovation, performance, and sustainability in mining.

The full EPD for the ABB GMD Ring Motor can be viewed on EPD International.

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