The ABB Ability NGX Hoist Control is designed to be adapted to any type of hoist and can be used in upgrade projects replacing third-party control systems.

The hoist control launch comes 130 years after ABB's first electrical motor for a mine hoist was commissioned in Sweden in 1891.

The NGX hoist operation station has been designed with the latest ergonomic and human factors engineering guidelines in mind and based on the latest human-machine interface insights. It aims to offer the most modern and intuitive operator interface.

It can be easily integrated with ABB technologies such as ABB Ability Safety Plus for hoists and is compatible with advanced digital monitoring service ABB Ability Performance Optimisation for hoists.

The latter continuously tracks the status of a mine hoist to provide actionable information on key performance indicators to help improve uptime, availability, performance and productivity.

ABB global product line manager for hoisting Oswald Deuchar said the launch followed the recent introduction of ABB Ability Safety Plus.

"With ABB Ability NGX Hoist Control mine operators benefit from more flexibility and an improved user experience, including round-the-clock support and the ability to manage hoists for greater optimisation," he said.

"By implementing the same control system across plants, operating expenditure can be further improved."

ABB vice-president and head of global product group mining, aluminium and cement Max Luedtke said the health and safety of people working in mines was of paramount importance to ABB.

"ABB Ability NGX Hoist Control is the latest example of this and follows the development of ABB Ability Safety Plus for hoists and of autonomous solutions including ventilation on demand and digital services," he said.

"Together these improve the quality of the working environment and enable remote supervision and operation, removing operators from hazardous areas."