PUMPS & PIPELINES
Schurco Slurry’ s DW Series offers a purpose-built solution capable of handling abrasive, solids-laden fluids on a continuous basis
optimised hydraulic design that delivers high efficiencies, while reducing the hydraulic losses through pressure balancing and structural robustness, which, in turn, allows for operation within safe limits, without sacrificing energy efficiency, he adds.
The series complements the company’ s existing slurry pump portfolio, through its being suitable for applications between traditional slurry pumping and general dewatering.
“ The DW Series represents Schurco Slurry’ s focused response to the growing demand for robust, high-performance dewatering and dirty-water pumps that can operate reliably in mining environments where conditions are rarely ideal,” concludes Fourie.
Naipu Mining’ s global validation of slurry pump wear parts
Committed it says to advanced material innovation, Naipu Mining told IM that it is systematically addressing the core challenge of wear part service life management in large-scale concentrators through two technical platforms: ultra-high-chrome alloys and rubber-ceramic composite liners.
It states:“ Slurry pump wear part degradation is never uniform. Front liners tend to reach their replacement point before impellers and throatbushes, forcing concentrators to schedule shutdowns while other components still have service life remaining. In large heavy-duty pumps, the productivity losses associated with this life imbalance routinely exceed the cost of the parts themselves. How to systematically extend the service life of high-wear consumables from the material level up is a challenge that mining operations worldwide have long grappled with- and one that Naipu Mining has made its central focus.”
Naipu says it has long been committed to applying material innovation to systematically address the challenge of short service life in mining wear parts. For the mill cyclone feed pump- the component requiring the highest frequency of replacement and maintenance in the concentrating process- Naipu has continued to deepen its R & D efforts and has now established three core material platforms for wet-end components: rubber, full metal, and ceramic, together with a range of composite solutions, enabling differentiated configurations for applications from grinding circuits to tailings handling.
It adds:“ Of the technical routes that have delivered the most compelling field results in recent years, two stand out: the ultra-high-chrome G-series metal wet ends represented by the G5, G6 and G7 grades, and the rubber-ceramic composite liner developed specifically for largepump liner applications. Both point to the same operational objective: bringing the replacement cycles of individual wet-end
components into alignment, and shifting maintenance planning from reactive response to proactive management.”
Naipu argues that while conventional high-chrome white iron( A08 grade) has long been the industry standard for metal slurry pump wet ends, coarse and unevenly distributed carbide microstructure makes the material prone to cracking under impact loading and limits its overall wear resistance.“ Naipu’ s proprietary G-series hyper-eutectic white iron addresses the core deficiencies of A08- its coarse carbides and susceptibility to fracture- through compositional optimisation and close process control during casting, achieving a refined and uniform carbide distribution.”
The practical impact on site it says is straightforward: wet-end components no longer fail prematurely through sudden fracture, but instead complete their full service cycle through predictable, uniform wear. Naipu’ s test data show that G-series grades deliver wear resistance more than 30 % above conventional A08, with hardness sustained above 60 HRC. The development programme simultaneously resolved a longstanding industry constraint- the low manufacturing yield of hyper-eutectic white irons at commercial scale- bringing the G-series yield rate above 99 %.
The G-series it says is now in service at more than 20 large concentrators worldwide, including major mining operations in Tibet, Shanxi and Fujian in China, as well as sites in Mongolia, Peru and Chile.“ Customer data indicates that compared with conventional A08 material, G-series wet-end service life is on average more than 30 % longer, with a significant reduction in unplanned downtime frequency. For concentrators, longer component service life translates directly into fewer shutdowns and lower parts
Naipu 550NZJM slurry pump installed in a grinding circuit( left) with rubber-ceramic composite liner( right)
60 International Mining | JUNE 2026