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