TPi September 2013

business & market news

Emergency water removal project First Tech Piping, a division of the First Tech Group, successfully completed emergency piping work on De Beers’ Venetia Diamond Mine in the Limpopo province of South Africa, within the tight thirty-day timeline given for the project. of diamonds in South Africa, First Tech Piping immediately initiated the manufacture and installation of more piping to remove the water.

that all quality, health and safety regulations were strictly adhered to,” added Mr Ashley. “De Beers promotes a culture of zero harm to people, planet and profit and the First Tech team working on-site underwent strict safety inductions before access to the site was granted.” First Tech Group owns 19 production facilities, and its 18 divisions have branches and agencies situated throughout South Africa, with active national and international distribution channels. SABS certification, ISO 9001:2008 accreditation and Level 4 BBBEE certification underline the group’s commitment to providing service to clients in a range of industries.

“The pit is approximately 300m deep with a surface area of 221 hectares and required two additional pipe line diameters, a 400mm and 450mm nominal diameter, with different pressure ratings up to 20,000 KPa, to dewater the mine in the scheduled time,” said Steve Ashley, technical executive at First Tech Piping. “The lengths of pipe, each 12m long, were welded together on site using six welding machines and a total of 8,300 bolts, which were also brought to site for assembly. In the end, 500 welds were completed.” First Tech Piping’s original estimate of the time frame for completion of the project was 55 days, said Mr de Frey. “Once we got to the site it seemed like an impossible task, but thanks to the strategic and creative manner in which our team worked we managed to meet the deadline.” This included keeping First Tech Pipe’s manufacturing facility open around the clock and remaining open for the Easter weekend in order to complete the project on time. “Despite the pressure brought about by this project’s urgent nature and time constraints, First Tech Piping ensured

First Tech Piping is a manufacturer, supplier and installer of HDPE thermoplastic piping. The company was requested in early February to assist with the removal of approximately one million cubic metres of water that had gathered in the lowest point of the opencast mining pit, following unprecedented flooding in the area in January. Due to the urgency of the situation from a timing point of view, the project was initially regarded as ‘mission impossible’, according to Pieter de Frey, CEO of First Tech Piping, who says he is exceptionally proud that his team was able to successfully conclude the project in record time. Mr de Frey explained, “Following the massive floods in Limpopo in January, masses of water flowed into the open pit. This was detrimental to the mine because the water, which amounted to around a million cubic metres, affected the most concentrated diamond deposit in the mine.”

First Tech Piping – South Africa www.firsttechgroup.co.za

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Upon being approached by Venetia Mine, which is the largest producer

First Tech Piping assisted with the removal of water that had gathered in the lowest point of the opencast mining pit

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