GE Chosen by Southern Copper Corporation to Help Double the Copper Concentrator Production

GE Power was chosen by Southern Copper Corporation (SCC) to provide the harmonic filter for its Toquepala Concentrator located in southern Tacna, Peru. The filter will be integrated into the copper concentrator’s power system to improve the power quality.

“The $1.2 billion Toquepala expansion will see the production capacity of the mine’s copper concentrator double from 60,000 to 120,000 tons per day. The harmonic filter is an essential piece of equipment to help us achieve this ambition,” said Eduardo Forcada, project director, SCC. “GE’s e-house harmonic filter solution is quite unique in the Peruvian mining industry. We count on this technology to guarantee the continuity of the production operations with improved cost performance.”

“Peru is the world's second biggest producer of copper and silver. We are excited to be part of the competitive Peruvian mining industry and to work with SCC to make positive contributions that will increase the copper output,” said Azeez Mohammed, president and CEO, GE’s Power Conversion business.

Grinding mills and its associated power electronic equipment can generate a lot of harmonics that hurt the power network’s stability inside a mine. Consequently, the mine is likely to suffer from power outages. Moreover, the machinery tends to consume more electricity due to the poor power quality and energy efficiency, leading to an excessive energy bill.

Harmonic filter is an effective way to achieve cost reductions through improved power quality and reduced energy losses, which, in turn, improves transmission capacity and helps the power network become more resilient. Improved power quality will also reduce machinery stress and help increase its life expectancy.

Moreover, GE’s harmonic filter will be enclosed in an e-house. The smaller footprint provides more flexibility when integrating the civil work and can achieve faster installations at the field. As a fully encased standalone piece compared to the traditional open-rack solution, it also protects the machinery from dust and pollution, thus lowering maintenance cost.

GE has long-standing relationship with SCC. GE has locomotives that transport minerals as well as large motors, switchgears and motor control centres for grinding mills.

Source: genewsroom.com