PUMPS AND PIPELINES
A GEHO TZPM2000 heat barrier pump in use at a nickel mine in Indonesia
Competitive flows
When it comes to mining pumps , suppliers cannot rest on their laurels – they are only as good as their products and aftermarket support , Dan Gleeson reports
Unlike bigger parts of the process plant – mills , crushers , etc – mining operations can switch out pumps within a short timeframe , using the same size envelope , or enlarging / narrowing the existing space , to fit a pump in from a different OEM should they deem it necessary .
This makes for a highly competitive market where suppliers are constantly trying to one-up each other to snatch market share from their peers .
Out to ‘ buy reliability ’
Kalle Sipilä , Vice President , Pumps at Metso , is aware of this , knowing that if the company ’ s pumps and its personnel are not on top form , they could lose an order to another rival company .
“ From us , customers want Tier 1 quality , but we also need to be cost competitive ,” he told IM . “ If you invest in a mill or flotation cells , you have what you have for the medium-to-long term , but you have more flexibility with pumps .”
This has seen Metso invest significantly in its application support team , with local representatives in many key regions able to engineer pumps to fit into the dimensions available in customer flowsheets , as well as offer a cost-effective and timely product .
“ To be successful nowadays , you need the full package ,” he said .
In South America – one of the biggest markets for large-diameter slurry pumps – Metso ’ s recently opened assembly plant in Lima , Peru , can provide this ‘ full package ’.
Once fully operational , the plant will be able to deliver standard Metso pumps with competitive lead times – eight weeks or less – to regional customers , according to the OEM .
Guillermo Espinoza , Director , Pumps Sales , South America , says this plant has been designed with the learnings of the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain disruptions in mind .
“ The plant has been developed at a time where the market was very distressed when it comes to sourcing parts , so we incorporated a lot of these learnings into the new plant ,” he said .
A much closer relationship with customers , in addition to local and reactive parts supply , plus an ongoing digitalisation of work practices , has allowed the company to optimise its spare parts supply in the region , meaning it can deliver the pumps and pump components they need when they need them .
On top of this , the new plant reduces transport-related CO 2 emissions associated with delivering these large pumps to some of the biggest copper and iron ore mines in the world . “ All the big customers we deal with in the region are aiming for zero emissions operations ,” Espinoza said . “ It is not only about being close to the customer in terms of supplying a reliable solution , it is also about delivering a product that comes with a smaller footprint that can help them achieve their goals .”
Sipilä stresses that the company ’ s hydraulic pumping design – launched in 2015 – helps here , too .
“ The hydraulic design of the standard pumps are old ,” he said . “ We have a relatively new hydraulic design , which is better suited to the market nowadays – higher flows and increased uptime of pumps . We are also looking to address this for the rest of the pump range going forward , meaning we can offer the right pump for the right duty , instead of oversizing the pump to be conservative .”
This sizing comes with increased energy
efficiencies , as well as reduced downtime as the pumps will run at their optimal levels for longer .
This sizing expertise – on top of an understanding of the appropriate materials needed to pump the acidic and corrosive flows that come with some battery metals – should help the company expand into key markets in the future .
All of this will be aided by an expanding digital offering for Metso pumps , leveraging the Metrics platform that has become equally important for securing and retaining business associated with comminution equipment .
“ We are going through a staged rollout of our digital solutions , which will start with condition monitoring and could eventually see us provide predictive functions that allow customers to ‘ see inside their pumps ’,” Sipilä said . “ We could wrap this into service contracts where we , as a supplier , would be incentivised to keep the pumps running for longer . That is the target ; the end goal .”
A customer in South America has already been lined up for a stage-one Metrics solution for condition monitoring , according to Sipilä , and Espinoza sees many other customers in the region having appetite for future deployments . “ The customers we are dealing with don ’ t necessarily want to buy products ; they want to buy reliability ,” he said . “ Extending the life of pumps leads to so many knock-on benefits in the plant that we , as Metso , are able to showcase to mining operations .”
DXB addresses delivery delays
DXB Pump & Power , a UK-based manufacturer of mine dewatering pumps , is also looking to improve the delivery times of pumps by addressing the engine issue that has affected suppliers across the globe .
With delivery times for engines from some international suppliers extending out to over a
Once fully operational , Metso ’ s new assembly plant in Lima , Peru , will be able to deliver standard Metso pumps with competitive lead times – eight weeks or less – to regional customers , according to the OEM
JUNE 2023 | International Mining 41