WORLD NEWS
Abrasion-resistant lined equipment reduces plant
operating costs
optimal material selection and a unique
manufacturing process.
The USD7.38-million contract awarded
to HMA Wear Solutions saw 1 115 pipes
supplied over a two-year period, with
a size range from DN200 to DN1200
and a design pressure ranging from
1 400kPa to 10 020kPa. According to
HMA Wear Solutions International sales
manager Mark Langbridge, a particular
achievement of the project was zero
damage during shipping.
HMA provides total product support,
installation and maintenance. “Our aim is to
achieve the longest possible operating life
with the most cost-effective material. HMA
Wear Solutions has reduced plant operating
costs through improved design and optimal
material selection, in combination with
our unique manufacturing
equipment and processes,”
Langbridge highlights.
Cobre is a large open-
pit copper development in
Panama. The concession is
120km west of Panama City
and 20km from the Caribbean
Sea coast, in the district of
Donoso, Colon province. The
concession consists of four
zones totalling 13 600ha.
In May 2018, First Quantum
revealed that the orebody
was 3.695mt @ 0.37% Cu
The USD7.38-million contract awarded to HMA Wear
(M&I resources) and 3.182mt
Solutions saw 1 115 pipes supplied over a two-year
period.
@ 0.38% Cu (P&P reserves).
HMA Wear Solutions has collaborated
with design engineering company
Lycopodium on the ceramic piping
specification for the Cobre Panama
project by First Quantum Minerals of
Canada. This USD6.3-billion copper
project is anticipated to be one of the
few new ‘red metal’ mines to enter
production by the end of the decade.
Lycopodium is responsible for the design
of the mineral-processing plant at Cobre.
HMA Wear Solutions is part of the
HMA Group, specialising in the design
and manufacture of abrasion-resistant
lined equipment. It provides a range
of products and materials such as
rubber, polyurethane, white iron and
ceramics to reduce costs and increase
performance through improved design,
The strip ratio is 1:1, with competent
rock and a 40-year-plus mine life. At that
stage the project was already about 70%
complete, clocking up 72 million-man
hours and a Lost Time Injury (LTI) rate of
0.10. A milestone of 10 million-man hours
without a single LTI was achieved on
19 April 2018.
Operations include an international
port, a 300MW power plant, a large
electric mine fleet and in-pit crushing
and conveying. The goals for 2019 are
to commence ore feed from the mine
to the process plant, the ramp-up of the
process plant to an annualised 74Mtpa
mill feed and a targeted 150 000t of
copper in concentrate production.
By 2020, the process plant will be
ramped up to an annualised 85Mtpa mill
feed and a targeted 270 000 to 300 000t
copper in concentrate production. This
will reach 350 000t in 2021 and an
additional investment by First Quantum
post-2022 to achieve the revised 100Mtpa
mill feed.
In February this year, First Quantum
announced that ore had passed through
the primary crushing circuit at an initial
feed rate of 4 000t/h to 5 000t/h, before
being placed into the first completed
milling circuit. This was followed by
hot commissioning to move the ore
throughout the plant until the first copper
concentrates are produced. An efficient
phased ramp-up is planned for Cobre
Panama throughout 2019.
Tel: +27 (0)11 579 4940
www.equipmentandhire.co.za
[email protected]
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