The Kittilä mine is the largest gold mine in Europe, producing around 7,000 kilograms of gold a year. Millog is a long-term partner of the mining company Agnico Eagle Finland Oy and helps to secure the critical processes of the mine by regularly servicing its backup power generators.
“Any unexpected event in an operation of this scale always has a big impact financially. For example, a power cut of just two minutes can cause a delay of several hours in the production process.”
Kari Siirtola, Maintenance Superintendent
Backup power systems are important not just for the production process but also for the health and safety of workers and the environment. Agnico Eagle Finland is committed to providing a safe working environment with zero accidents and incidents. The company also strives to minimise its environmental impact. The mine must therefore be able to operate in all circumstances, and the backup generators play a big role in this.
“Any unexpected event in an operation of this scale always has a big impact financially. For example, a power cut of just two minutes can cause a delay of several hours in the production process”, says the mine’s Maintenance Superintendent Kari Siirtola.
“Our backup power generators are capable of delivering approximately one third of the electricity that the mine consumes. The generators are designed to provide enough power to keep all the critical processes running. This includes, for example, some automated systems as well as the pumps that are needed to control the process during a power outage.”
Backup power generators present a unique challenge: they must be in working order at all times, but they are only ever powered up sporadically and generally always at a moment’s notice. Agnico Eagle Finland and Millog have prepared detailed maintenance plans for the Kittilä mine’s backup system, which ensure that the generators will work if they are needed.
Special expertise and experience in complex machinery
The mining company tests the generators itself every month. Millog is responsible for servicing the generators at regular intervals, which includes, among other things, more rigorous testing, repairs, replacing filters, and oil and coolant changes.
“Millog knows the mine and our procedures and systems well, which means that they can perform the work very independently.”
“The work requires knowledge of mining operations as well as special expertise and competence. Millog has a lot of experience in working with complex machinery”, Kari Siirtola says.
Millog also has representatives in northern Finland
Millog has representatives all over Finland, which means that customers in Lapland can use a local service provider. Millog and Agnico Eagle Finland’s partnership has only improved over the years, and both trust each other implicitly.
“The more experienced the engineers who service our systems are, the easier the process is for us. Millog knows the mine and our procedures and systems well, which means that they can perform the work very independently”, Siirtola says.
Agnico Eagle Finland and Millog are now planning to expand the partnership even further. The mine is already processing two million tonnes of ore per year, and higher production volumes mean that more backup power generators will soon be needed. The current system upgrade is due to be completed in 2022.