GE Motors Strikes Gold with $18.5 Million Order from Ivanhoe Mines
FORT WAYNE, IN — GE Motors recently received the largest order in the history of the company's Large Motors & Generators business. The $18.5 million order from Ivanhoe Mines includes four quadramatic drives and controls powering eight, large, slow–speed, synchronous–ball, mill motors for its Qyu Tolgoi Gold and Copper Mine in the Gobi desert in Mongolia.
A superior technology
"This project is perfect for Peterborough's expertise," says Ross Garland, site leader for GE Motors in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. "The quadramatic technology is proprietary to GE and truly unique in comparison with conventional motors."
Ivanhoe Mines will use the GE motors and quadramatic controls to drive four grinding mills (two motors per mill) in the concentrator facility at the Oyu Tolgoi mine. "The quadramatic control technology allows the two motors used on each mill to operate in tandem," says Garland. "This permits the mill size and load to be larger than if it were driven by only one conventional motor."
A long journey
The Oyu Tolgoi mine is located 80 km north of the China border. According to the Ivanhoe Mines Web site, "this project has the potential to become one of the world's largest copper and gold producers and a model of environmentally sound mineral development. Development at Oyu Tolgoi is scheduled to occur over a 15–year period, providing for an ultimate mine life that is expected to exceed 40 years."
The engineering contractor for this project is Fluor Corporation, one of the world's largest, publicly owned engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance services companies. The negotiations and technical reviews with Fluor took place both in Vancouver, Canada, and Shanghai, China. The GE Motors team worked closely with Ivanhoe Mines and Fluor's Vancouver office to develop a solution and agreement that worked for all parties. They also worked closely with Fluor China, which was contracted to handle the procurement process.
"There were multiple buying influences involved in this order, including a mill builder located in the United States, an engineer contractor located in Canada and the end–user located in Mongolia," says Garland. "Competition was also fierce. In the end it was our technology, our century–long reputation for quality and our international project experience that really paid off."
About GE Motors
GE Motors is a world–class manufacturer of electric motors and generators with more than 125 years of experience. A business of GE Consumer & Industrial, GE Motors offers a full range of products, from fractional to 100,000 horsepower units, for highly demanding applications around the world. Driven by Lean Six Sigma methods and tools, GE Motors serves industrial and commercial industries such as Power Generation, Oil and Gas, Chemical, Mining, Pulp and Paper, Water/Wastewater, Cement, Metals, Electric Vehicles, and Appliances. GE Motors can design to any global standard and certification due to its extensive motor engineering and manufacturing experience. For more information, visit www.gemotors.com.
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