MechChem Africa January-February 2024

Motion innovation for Africa’s mines In advance of the Mining Indaba in Cape Town, MechChem Africa talks to Sven Demmig and Tim Walwyn of the newly formed Innomotics, a Siemens Business. Created from Siemens’ Large Drives and Low Voltage Motors businesses, Innomotics delivers end-to-end green solutions and digital transformation to the mining, cement, chemical and other sectors.

wants to emphasise its position as a world class solution provider for electrification, automation and digitalisation in the mining and associated industries. “Our market-leading products are com plemented by the expertise of Innomotics’ Solutions division in integrating these products to create complete solutions, most notably for the mining and cement industries,” says Demmig, adding that this is backed up by a globally active Service divi sion. “Because all the equipment involved are assets in critical applications, their reli ability is key for the long-term success and sustainability of any operation. “The first digital mine has been devel oped for a copper mine in Peru using our technology, starting from the design phase, through the mine construction phase and up to operation. Closing the loop, the solution comes with a digital-twin of the entire mine, all based on our state-of the art digitalisa tion capabilities for the mining environ ment,” says Demmig. This global customer now plans to use the same technology for its next Greenfield mine. “We see the Digital Mine by Innomotics as a triangle of technologies,” Walwyn fur ther explains. “We start with an engineering platform, which is basically a digital model of the mine represented in a single common database. Then we develop the automation systems needed to control and manage min ing and minerals processing sequences. And the third component is a simulation engine,

Left: Chief Executive Officer of Innomotics in South Africa. Right: Sven Demmig, Global Head of Minerals Solutions for Innomotics.

I nnomotics, according to Sven Demmig, Global Head of Minerals Solutions, is an independent new company that is whol ly owned by the Siemens Group. “With a trusted Siemens legacy of more than 150 years of engineering expertise, Innomotics has a portfolio of leading solutions in auto mation, digitalisation and electrification to deliver the digital transformation, first and foremost in mining, but also for the cement, chemical and other industries.” In reference to Innomotics’ long heritage of innovation in mining, Demmig cites the company’s gearless mill drive (GMD) tech nology as a key contributor to reliability and efficiency on the mine. Some of these GMDs are amongst the world’s biggest mills. At the Sentinel copper mine in Zambia, for example, two 28 MW GMD drives have been installed to run two 40-ft SAG mills

plus two 22 MW drives to run two 28-foot ball mills “These are reliable, high-efficiency mills that reduce total costs of ownership and deliver sustained high performance in meeting the production requirements of mining operations,” he notes. “We have a product-oriented focus on large and medium voltage (MV) drives and motors – and we are the world market leader in MV-drives. Everywhere in the world, these are critical components for reliable motion for industrial processes and infrastructure,” says Tim Walwyn, Chief Executive Officer of Innomotics in South Africa, adding that Innomotics has access to over 16 Siemens factories around the world that produce these motors and drives.

The digital mining approach At the 2024 Mining Indaba, Innomotics

Innomotics has a product-oriented focus on large and medium voltage (MV) drives and motors. The company is the world market leader in MV-drives.

4 ¦ MechChem Africa • January-February 2024