PUMPS
plant operates efficiently . The valves and their sizing must meet the process requirements and they must be operationally reliable ; otherwise , the desired product quality and quantity cannot be reached . This is why Valmet valves and pumps were chosen for Adriatic Metals ’ new plant in Vares .
“ IBEJ delivered us Neles™ and Flowrox™ valves , which are basically installed all over the Vares processing plant – on all seven sub factories . Also , Flowrox pumps are installed in the most demanding applications . The pumps are transferring the slurry through the process so that it can be processed productively further down to the final product ,” explains Sisic .
In minerals processing , valves and pumps are required to control the flow and to ensure process performance and reliability . Adriatic Metals relied on Valmet ’ s and IBEJ ’ s expertise to select the best solutions for their needs . “ The scope of our flow control solution delivery included both on-off and control valves : Flowrox knife gate valves , Neles L6 series butterfly valves , Neles M1 series ball valves , Neles GU & GB globe valves , Flowrox PVE pinch valves , Neles actuators , and Neles ND9000 smart positioners . As well as these , several Flowrox LPP-T transfer pumps are installed in filtration and flotation areas . Our service included the delivery and commissioning of the flow control products ,” describes Vedad Kadrić , Sales engineer and technical support at IBEJ . “ In addition , we have provided our recommendations for optimising valve configuration and sizing , based on best engineering practice . Furthermore , we also provided additional support through valve commissioning .”
“ I ’ ve come across Neles products in the number of different projects I ’ ve been part of . The quality of the products and their ability to withstand the industrial requirements of the installation has always been top notch ,” says Opacic .
“ Our company and Valmet know each other from before . I ’ ve worked with their valve products in my previous jobs ; they are well presented in the market . Neles and Flowrox valves are applied in very harsh conditions , for example , in the chemical industry as well as in the mining industry . Valmet ’ s flow control products have shown sustainability and reliability in these conditions ,” confirms Sisic .
“ It ’ s exciting to see everything come to a close after years of planning and hard work as we are now putting everything into operation ,” concludes Opacic . By the end of 2024 , the Vares processing plant is set to be running at its full capacity . The annual production rate for the Vares mine is estimated to be 800,000 t / y ; for 90,000 t / y of zinc concentrate and 65,000 t / y of silver / lead concentrate .
IM
A broad mining pump offering
We also spoke to Harvinder S Bhabra , Global Product Manager – Slurry and Axial Flow Pumps & Business Development Manager – Mining at ITT Goulds Pumps
Q How would you summarise the ITT Goulds pump offering to mining and is it particularly known for certain applications eg slurry , dewatering , mill discharge and tailings etc ? A ITT , with its world class Goulds and Rheinhuette brands , has a wide product offering that spans the whole mining and minerals processing value chain , from metallic and non-metallic minerals to hard rock and solution mining . The products cover ANSI / API , DIN / ISO , slurry and axial flow pumps in various metallic , non-metallic and elastomer lined configurations with gland sealing through standard packings , mechanical seals , hydrodynamic seals , or magnetic seal-less drives . As ore grades decline , mines are getting bigger and deeper , and the resultant mine tailings volumes grow at a much faster rate . ITT has solutions for handling wet tailings with references in several multi-stage pump configurations . Safety concerns with storing large volumes of contaminated tailings and global scarcity of water from increasing volumes of tailings is forcing technologies to evolve towards thickened tailings and pastes , as well as dry stacking methods which also take up less land .
Q Are there any ITT Goulds pump applications and models you would single out in terms of evolution and development progress ? A ITT Goulds is a world leader in the manufacture of ANSI pumps used in chemical processing and refining of minerals . The pumps have undergone significant upgrades to address market and application challenges with enhancements in hydraulics , gland sealing options , and baseplate designs . The addition of the XHD range to the slurry range presents a modern design that addresses customer needs for the lowest total ownership cost for their asset . Enhanced hydraulics are supported by several maintenance features that make this XHD pump an excellent choice in mining .
Q How do your pumps handle mining ’ s challenging conditions ? A The ITT slurry products are designed for operating on tough mining applications to pump high density erosive and abrasive slurries while delivering extended wear life . The metal alloys and elastomer options offered
to complement CFD modelled enhanced efficiency hydraulics make ITT slurry pumps a preferred choice for end users . The XHD pump has a high efficiency , large diameter impeller for lower speed operation that reduces wear , and a dual casing design with thicker , interchangeable , and replaceable liners on a common platform for a metal or rubber lined option .
Q What is ITT Goulds ’ solution for real time monitoring of pump performance ? A ITT Goulds offers the i-ALERT Remote Monitoring Solution which is a holistic service to easily monitor your rotating equipment no matter where it ’ s located . This includes hardware to get the data from harsh locations such as mine sites quickly and easily to a monitoring platform as well as equipment experts to monitor and analyse this data and provide actionable insights to protect the machines and increase uptime . The i-ALERT Solution removes the need to put personnel in harm ’ s way to monitor pump condition while swiftly delivering the data necessary to determine what needs attention and what issues may be coming up before they cause unplanned downtime .
ITT , with its world class Goulds and Rheinhuette brands , has a wide product offering that spans the whole mining and minerals processing value chain
44 International Mining | JUNE 2024