Ahead of the December issue special article on slurry pipelines comes this news from Flowrox. The company is supplying a complete project package to the Husab—the second largest uranium mine in the world—which includes pinch valves and technical training. Flowrox has been contracted to deliver a total of 83 of 550 mm hydraulically-actuated pinch valves to the project’s tailings operation, spread over a 23-km2 area in the desert—a harsh and unforgiving environment.
Delivering a complete package for its clients, Flowrox has also conducted theoretical and practical training sessions, ensuring the competence and performance of technical staff through the rigour of mining operations.
Flowrox says its pinch valves “are designed for heavy duty applications in flow control industries where the corrosive and abrasive nature of slurries, powders or other coarse substances are continuously testing the limits of human engineering.”
The pinch valves for Husab will be operated with unique actuator solution, whenever required, by means of two mobile gasoline-powered hydraulic power packs—and given the demanding conditions of a uranium mine, Flowrox says it “is capable of tailoring its actuators, valve body construction and sleeve material to its process conditions.”
Flowrox will supply all the necessary spare parts to allow the Husab staff to perform thorough maintenance and repairs as needed—and it is considering adding service exchange valves to ensure better serviceability.
The project is being led by Henlo Blignaut, Managing Director for Flowrox in South Africa. “Husab only partners with the premium product suppliers in this market sector and Flowrox was chosen due to our quality performance and technology. The relationship with the customer is excellent and there will be more project collaboration in the near future,” he stated. “This is of course very good news for us as many new mining project are put on hold and upgrades and operational capital of many companies have also been reduced—we are very optimistic about the future.”
Husab mine holds an estimated 280 Mt of uranium ore and is also one of the largest open-pit mines on the African continent. The mine was opened in May 2014 and is majority owned by China General Nuclear Power Corp (CGN) and is set to make Namibia one of the world’s largest uranium suppliers.
Construction of the mine is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2015, with production then planned to ramp up to 5,770 t/y of uranium by 2017.
