African Mining May 2020 | Page 45

OPERATIONS • Leon Louw A team of engineers at Orion monitors the integrity of the shaft at the Prieska mine to determine its suitability to winch loaded cages up and down in the future. totalling to an equivalent of just over 800m of straight decline, all flooded with approximately 9 million litres of water. This operation was carried out using portable submersible slurry pumps to handle the huge volumes of silt that had been washed down with the decline. The bottleneck was only the main pumping system which could only accommodate a limited flow rate much lower than what could be achieved by the face pumping. The operation was successfully carried out and mining commenced in those declines within a few weeks. Prior to that Pumpquip had spent over 18 months at Palabora Copper in Limpopo, Phalaborwa. There the scope was initially to recover flooded ends and assist with on-site pump repairs to support the mining teams. In four months, the company had cleared all the flooded declines, developed a dewatering strategy and were looking after the main cascade pumping system. Pumpquip was also responsible for the provision and repair of all pumps on site required by the mine development teams. From there the contract was extended to include the implementation of the dewatering strategy, operation and maintenance of the dewatering infrastructure. This also entailed the provision and maintenance of suitable pumps for each stage of the mine development process such as face pumping, intermediate, cascade and main pump station. For such a project, some key principles had to be developed and entrenched into the mind of every member of the team. The two most important were: Water shall not be allowed to run for more than 50m on open roads whether controlled or uncontrolled unless reasonably justified and dewatering of development ends shall take priority above all other activities. With these two principles as the prevailing law amongst all the team members, the rest of the work took care of itself. Pumpquip’s footprint also extends to surface mining where the company offers pit dewatering solutions through the use of mobile, diesel driven, skid or trailer mounted pump units as well as portable submersible units on floats to allow continuous and uninterrupted pumping. On the submersible units the company usually fits level control switches that when the pump reaches the bottom, the unit cuts off. Should the water return while the unit is in place, it will automatically switch on again and take care of the dewatering with no operator intervention. The company is currently busy with upgrades of a water treatment works pump station with the objective of reducing the energy consumption of the pump station by replacing the existing pump units and controls with a different type of pump arrangement that offers better efficiencies, smaller motors and smarter controls. • Established in 1988, Pumpquip is a specialist solutions provider in the fluids handling industry. Our vision is to be our clients’ first choice, ‘Fluid Handling’ solutions provider through the consistent development and delivery of water handling solutions that are fit for purpose, cost-effective and meet the highest quality standards. Our skills and field experience enable us to develop tailored solutions to suit the specific needs of the customer. Our interventions are aimed at enabling mining crews to focus on what they do best while we focus on what we do best. www. africanmining.co.za African Mining Publication African Mining African Mining • May 2020 • 43