The use of a double-motor asynchronous electric drive on belt conveyors in the mining industry has a number of problems associated with load distribution between motors, premature wear of the mechanical parts of the conveyor, as well as increased energy consumption. This article describes a simulation model of a double-motor frequency-controlled asynchronous electric drive of the main belt conveyor in the MATLAB/Simulink environment. The oscillograms of the resulting simulation model are compared with the oscillograms of the real object: the modeling error does not exceed 5%. The obtained accuracy is sufficient for studying the dynamic processes of a double-motor frequency-controlled asynchronous electric drive occurring in the startup mode of the conveyor. It is proposed to use an adaptive proportional-integral controller with a Smith predictor in the feedback circuit as an automatic controller of the electromagnetic torque of the engine. It changes its parameters depending on the load on the conveyor. Studies of the dynamic processes occurring in the belt conveyor in startup mode under various loads have been carried out. The results show that for different degrees of the conveyor load it is advisable to use different settings of the automatic controller. Experiments have confirmed that the use of an adaptive torque controller can reduce the energy consumption of the conveyor electric drive in startup mode and increase the service life of the conveyor mechanical parts.