PUMPS & PIPELINES procurement costs.”
Improving metal wet-end performance addresses wear on impellers and throatbushes, but liners present a different challenge.“ The zone adjacent to the impeller eye is subject to high-velocity slurry impingement, with localised wear rates far exceeding those elsewhere on the liner- a limitation that metal materials alone cannot fully overcome. Naipu’ s rubber-ceramic composite liner embeds high-wear-resistance ceramic tiles into the rubber matrix at the highest-wear zones, combining the localised abrasion resistance of ceramic with the vibration-damping and shock-absorbing properties of rubber. A segmented tile design overcomes the manufacturing constraint that has historically prevented ceramic liners from scaling to large pump sizes.”
At a large iron ore concentrator in Shanxi with an annual throughput of 22 Mt, a 550NZJM pump previously achieving around 90 days on rubber liners from another supplier extended to a stable 186 days after switching to Naipu rubberceramic composite liners. At a large copper concentrator in Fujian operating a 650NZJM pump handling 8,000 to 8,300 m ³/ h, liner life rose from approximately 650 hours to a stable 1,200 hours. The data from both operations point to the same outcome: with liner life approaching double the previous benchmark, the replacement cycles of individual wet-end components have come into closer alignment, and one of the primary triggers of unplanned downtime has been brought under effective control.
Naipu technology field validation in Latin America
The China application data provided an initial confirmation of product performance.
The more demanding test came from Latin America, where some of the world’ s largest copper operations are concentrated and where established international pump and wear part suppliers have long held strong positions. Naipu says its field trials in this market were conducted in direct comparison with incumbent products.
Naipu carried out a wet-end replacement trial on a large slurry pump in the grinding circuit of a major copper mine in Chile. The trial target was a minimum of 4,500 hours or six months of continuous operation, with qualification expected to deliver around 33 % in parts cost savings. Throughout the trial, the concentrator’ s reliability team tracked flow, current draw and rotational speed continuously via the DCS system, benchmarking Naipu’ s performance against the historical data from the incumbent supplier’ s components.
The trial accumulated 5,636 hours of operation, sustaining continuous service for more than seven months- exceeding both target thresholds. During this period, Naipu’ s wet-end components delivered superior flow performance relative to the incumbent supplier’ s parts, with comparable energy consumption. Naipu:“ The mine’ s reliability report concluded that the trial met all requirements for duration and performance, and recommended qualifying Naipu as an alternative wet-end supplier for this pump series.” The Naipu components remained installed beyond the formal trial end date and, according to Naipu, continued in service for more than a year in total.
Naipu’ s relationship with this mine extended further.“ In 2024, the mine signed a trial agreement with Naipu for 760 mm-diameter slurry pump wet ends. At the conclusion of the trial, Naipu’ s wetend components matched the service life achieved by the original supplier, and the trial was declared successful, delivering a 35 % reduction in the customer’ s overall operating costs. At the post-trial inspection, site engineers reported that the Naipu impeller showed the best wear condition they had seen on a pump of this size. A second Naipu 760 wet-end set is currently in service at the mine.”
Also in 2024, Naipu underwent a more rigorous evaluation at a major copper concentrator in northern Chile. Naipu installed a full wet-end kit- including liners, impeller and seal assembly- into a large cyclone feed pump at the operation. The trial threshold was set at 1,750 hours of continuous operation, with A08-grade impellers paired with NP16 rubber wet-end components, a series characterised by high wear resistance, tear resistance and elasticity. The trial was brought to a close when the mine took the opportunity of a scheduled motor maintenance window to replace all wear components, at which point the Naipu wet end had accumulated 1,509 hours of service.
Post-removal inspection confirmed uniform wear across all components with substantial remaining material, and Naipu’ s engineering team assessed the actual usable life as significantly exceeding the trial hours recorded. The mine operator formally recognised the full interchangeability of Naipu wet-end components with the existing pump casings and shafts, and qualified Naipu as an approved alternative supplier for critical pump assets at the operation. The wet-end set ultimately accumulated 2,500 hours before being removed from service.
In Peru, Naipu’ s 650-series slurry pumps have been commissioned and are in continuous productive service at two of the country’ s leading copper operations, extending Naipu’ s Latin American installed base from Chile into Peru.
Naipu’ s slurry pump range covers the full concentrating flowsheet from grinding circuit to tailings handling. Six product series- NZJM, NZJA, NZJL, NZJH, NZJF and NZJV- are available to match the requirements of heavy-duty, high-head, light-duty and froth pump applications, with the heavyduty NZJM series reaching a maximum discharge diameter of 760 mm. In terms of material systems, Naipu’ s in-house rubber, high-chrome alloy, ceramic and composite options can be selected and configured to suit specific process conditions, balancing wear and corrosion resistance to achieve optimum service life for each application and effectively reducing unplanned downtime caused by premature wet-end failure. Alongside this, Naipu continues to invest in hydraulic model development, pursuing a balance between wear performance and energy consumption that, for large
International Mining | JUNE 2026 61