Modern Mining August 2015

PRODUCT News

Flexible dewatering solutions fromWeir Minerals Africa

Dewatering solutions for open pits and slimes dams generally comprise a choice between undertaking civil construction for pump stations or selecting a mobile pon- toon or skid-mounted pumping solution. Experience indicates that the land-based pump station does not always have the same flexibility that pontoon or skid- mounted pump sets would offer. Howard Jones, Weir Minerals Africa’s Product Manager – Dewatering Africa and Middle East, says that this is apparent in the fact that pontoons are installed at the source, making pumping more effi- cient as the pumps face consistent suction conditions. In addition, pontoon or skid-mounted pumping solutions can be readily migrated to wherever they are required. This elimi- nates the costly and time consuming alternative of developing a new pump sta- tion for each location. Weir Minerals Africa is one of threeWeir Minerals global design centres that focus

on pontoon and structural design spe- cifically, with modifications implemented for local conditions. The selection of the pumping unit could include any of the well-established Weir Minerals brands such as Warman® and Multiflo® and could vary from pure dewatering or dirty water pumps to submersible dirty water pumps, as well as heavy duty slurry submersible and other end suction products. Multiflo® pontoons are constructed with integral access walkways which could either be fixed to the bank or floating. The walkway holds the cable and pip- ing from the docking station to the shore and provides ready access to the pumps for inspection or regular maintenance. Light masts, as well as LED strip lighting, form part of the offering and are supplied according to clients’ requirements. The pipes comprise Linatex® rubber hoses which are also locally manufactured by Weir Minerals Africa and offer the cus- tomer extended wear life because of the

specialised rubber compounds used in their manufacture. Solutions available from Weir Minerals include complete steel pontoon barges as well as linear low density polyethylene flo- tation devices with steel frames for lighter applications, where mobility from one pond to another is required. These designs can handle mostWeir Minerals pump offer- ings, with a load bearing capacity from 500 kg to 10 t, including the structure. Rene Calitz, Weir Minerals Africa, tel (+27 11) 929-2622 One of two Warman DWU 125 dewatering pumps mount- ed to a pontoon and walkway during assembly phase.

August 2015  MODERN MINING  63