For an article in the December issue, John Chadwick researched some of the latest ideas in ore and tailings slurries. As Ausenco notes, “slurry pipeline technology is a safe transportation alternative that minimises impacts on local communities and the environment. Its benefits include lower pollution levels, fuel costs and staffing requirements, and a reduced reliance on high-use transport corridors. Slurry pipeline technology offers a sustainable solution in many environments.
Personnel from Ausenco Brazil consider in some detail the Minas-Rio iron project.
When considering a pipe joining method for its 4 km long, 630 mm (24”) OD HDPE tailings pipeline at Husab uranium mine, the Husab Joint Venture sought a solution that would allow for ease of future maintenance and a fast initial installation. Due to a tight project schedule, neither butt welding nor stub-and-flange systems were an option because of the long installation time required. Husab JV ultimately decided to use the Victaulic Refuse-to-Fuse™ Style 908 coupling for large diameter HDPE pipe.
Frost & Sullivan has recognised FELUWA Pumpen with the 2017 Global Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Line Strategy Leadership. Frost & Sullivan says “the outstanding quality of F ELUWA’s diaphragm pumps underlines its remarkable engineering capability, adoption of best practices, and commitment to providing best-in-class services to the global mining industry.”
Drawing on its expertise of peristaltic pumps and their broad range of applications, PCM has developed the Delasco™ DX series (DX65-DX80-DX100) with a technology “that will meet the expectations of today’s mining and environment markets as well as the requirements of chemical and new energies applications.”
In line with Weir Minerals’ commitment to continually reduce total cost of ownership of its equipment, the company has launched the second generation of the Warman® WGR® pump. This boasts several innovative features including fully replaceable liners designed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation that provide a significantly improved performance over the first generation WGR pump. The liners and impeller are manufactured from premium Linatex® rubber and housed within robust casing halves. Enhancements to the casing design simplify maintenance and minimise downtime.
The elimination of recirculation within a slurry pump not only lowers power consumption but significantly reduces uneven wear on parts, and this, according to Morne Potgieter, Sales and Customer Service Manager of FLSmidth Krebs in South Africa, equates directly into an overall improved wear life of the pump, lowering spare parts stockholding, downtime and labour costs.
Weir Minerals’ GEHO® pumps are among the world’s most advanced positive displacement pumps, expertly designed to transport slurry over long distances. GEHO® crankshaft driven piston diaphragm pumps can transport slurry through a 550 km pipeline and pump slurry more than 2,000 m uphill. “We have continued to increase our pump capacity based on our extensive installation experiences and in-depth research and development,” says Erik Vlot, Product Manager for Slurry Transportation at Weir Minerals.
Flowrox hose pumps were chosen for the LKAB tailings treatment project at the Svappavaara (Sweden) operation based on previous experience. That application is described in detail on p4 of October International Mining.
One plant in the Western USA Carlin Trend gold mining region replaced its centrifugal thickener underflow pumps with ABEL series EM 100 electromechanical diaphragm pumps. Cone water additions and gland seal water were no longer required thus helping the process substantially. Also the maintenance costs associated with the thickener underflow pumps was greatly reduced.
ValvTechnologies says it “has been at the forefront of slurry valve technology for over 30 years. The company has supplied all long-distance slurry transportation pipelines around the world, as well as many tailings transportation pipeline operations.” The first valves were supplied to a copper operation in Chile in the late 1980s, and the most recent were supplied to an iron operation in Brazil.
“We are extremely proud of our reputation and position in the market as a leader in this field”, said ValvTechnologies’ President, Kevin Hunt. “Not only is our AbrasoTech® valve the only product able to provide true absolute zero-leakage, we stand with every customer to ensure they receive the best overall solution and lifetime support for their operation”
SABIA says online slurry analysers provide the data required to create additional value. As a leader in PGNAA (Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis) technology, “SABIA continuously strives to provide better performance, better value, and a better customer experience.
“Online Elemental PGNA Slurry Analysers are revolutionising mineral and metallurgy applications that never before had near real-time visibility into of their entire material flow. This is made possible with SABIA’s patented X1-XP On-Pipe Analyser which mounts directly around a slurry pipe and performs even better than traditional crossbelt analysers. Being installed online, the analyser sees 100% of the slurry flow. It also has no moving parts, which eliminates the maintenance associated for traditional PGNAA sample based slurry analysers.”
Penspen has been awarded a nine-month contract extension by Antofagasta Minerals to provide pipeline integrity management systems (PIMS) for the Minera Los Pelambres copper mine in Chile, the fifth largest in the world.
