GE today highlighted products and services from across its three business units—Digital Energy, Industrial Solutions and Power Conversion—that help mining customers minimize downtime and better manage their electricity needs. GE’s mining products, featured at MINExpo 2012, deliver enhanced power and productivity and are part of the GE Mining business’ broader offering, which was announced earlier this week and brings together the best technologies, people and resources from across GE to help mining customers tackle their toughest challenges.

As the global mining industry expands to deeper, more remote and extreme locations, mine operators are under increasing pressure to find and utilize electrical power more safely, efficiently and reliably. GE is fulfilling this need by offering mining customers innovative solutions that allow them to reliably transmit electricity from the generation source, safely distribute electricity to users and ingeniously convert electricity into motion.

Showcasing its expertise in improving the electrical infrastructure of the mining industry, GE’s Power Conversion business will supply its ecomagination-qualified Quadramatic™ drive technology to Grupo Mexico to support the expansion of its Buenavista copper mining operation in the Mexican state of Sonora. The site is Latin America’s largest ball mill operation.

Grupo Mexico will use GE’s advanced synchronous motor technology to add 84 megawatts (MW) of power at six Buenavista ball mills. Quadramatic motors run at fixed speeds with minimum system losses to promote high efficiency, thus lowering the mine’s energy requirements. GE announced the new order with Minera Mexico—a subsidiary of Grupo Mexico—during MINExpo 2012 in Las Vegas, Nev.

GE Mining demonstrates its Optimization Solutions for rail supply chain management at MINExpo International 2012 in Las Vegas from September 24 to 26.

To help the mining industry meet the challenges of taking a raw material to market, GE’s Optimization Solutions business offers a comprehensive suite of monitoring and predictive software and ondemand services. These solutions enable mining and rail freight customers to optimize outbound logistics, maximize capacity, increase asset utilization and reduce fuel expense and overall operating costs. Fully customizable to meet the transportation needs of mining companies no matter their size or requirements, Optimization Solutions helps mines enhance rail operations, assets, networks and energy use.

1. Attendees learned more about green initiatives to preserve the environment at our GE Ecomagination booth.  (Pictured:  Harry Sachdeva)

2. Mining Magazine covered the launch of the GE Global Mining Business Unit.

3. Showing off our GE GDY106 sun pinions. One is new, and the other is 10 years old and has been through 51,000 hours of service (see below). Can you tell the difference? We can’t!

GE Mining unveils its Invertex Electric Drive Systems for underground vehicles at MINExpo International 2012 from September 24 to 26 in Las Vegas. Invertex Electric Drive Systems combine an AC drive system and GE’s advanced DurathonTM Battery energy storage system to propel underground mining vehicles with improved performance, increased reliability and lower life-cycle costs. This new technology represents GE Mining’s commitment to making underground mining safer and more cost-efficient, as well as bringing the clean and innovative solutions of GE’s ecomaginationSM to the mining industry.

At MINExpo 2012, visitors will have two opportunities to learn about Invertex Electric Drive Systems for underground propulsion. Individual system components featured at GE Mining’s Booth 7371 include traction and pump motors, the variable frequency combo-drive, the system controller, the operator’s display and the Durathon Battery.