PANEL DISCUSSION
How have you adapted your equipment and service offering to meet the industry’s changing and most current needs? Our dedication to moulding our product ranges to deliver maximum on-site performance has seen our platinum-focused Rustenburg branch achieve significant growth, a major feat considering it is the most depressed mining sector at present. The platinum mines are under enormous cost pressures and Weir Minerals is assisting them to drive their costs down. We have already taken over the entire maintenance of one of the platinum plants where our equipment is installed. R&D is extremely important to Weir Minerals around the world. Our slurry pump improvements have been remarkable over the years, always driven around improving energy efficiency and wear life performance. The new WBH centrifugal slurry pump, for example, has some unique features that have never been tried before. It offers more than 20 enhancements to our current technology, including a fully adjustable and rotatable throatbush, which spreads the wear more evenly, thus maintaining the pump in tip-top performance for longer periods. It boasts a revolutionary one-piece frame for the correct alignment of bearings, seal and impeller to the front liner, as well as easier access for impeller adjustments. The WBH
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE Service exchange pumps, including dredge & gravel and process chemical pumps available for immediate use The Middelburg branch OEM stock holding for service exchange Weir Minerals Africa is the centre of excellence for screen research and development in the Weir Group
pump was built with enhanced efficiency and operational savings in mind. These pumps share a common bearing assembly with our DWU range of dirty water pumps. From a customer stockholding point of view, this further cuts down on spares holding. Our latest products have improved wear life and energy efficiency, so while they require capital to install, the benefits and payback are significant.
How is Weir positively contributing towards mines’ ability to reduce their energy consumption? We actively participate in the Energy Efficiency Forum and contribute to the industry at large. We guarantee our clients between 2 and 5% energy saving per pump when implementing the new technology. Considering large mines can have up to 400 pumps installed on one site, the energy savings are dramatic.
Give an example where you have assisted a mining
company to reduce its operating costs in today’s challenging operating environment. After installing and commissioning eight Cavex ceramic lined cyclones at the Phola coal processing plant, the metallurgical department at the plant noticed an immediate improvement. There was a 49% increase in solids reporting to the underflow by comparison with the original cyclones. An additional 24 tph of solids reported to the underflow compared to the original cyclones and they produced a finer cut with an average d50c of 107 microns as compared to an average d50c of 210 microns produced by conventional cyclones. As a result, an increased solids loading of 24 t per hour per cluster onto the spirals increased the saleable
yield. Plant availability also increased and downtime has been reduced. Due to these substantial improvements, 18 additional Cavex cyclones were subsequently installed at Phola coal. A Warman slurry pump replaced an existing problem pump for Consol Minerals. It is fitted with an expeller that seals the gland without any leakage while in operation and does not require external flushing water. After 2 000 hours, the pumps were opened for first inspection and no wear on the impeller or sealing arrangement was visible. While the previous pump required an impeller change every 3 000 hours, at current wear rates this installation is expected to last up to four times longer, with change-out required at approximately 20 000 hours.
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