MechChem Africa November-December 2021

⎪ Pump systems, pipes, valves and seals ⎪

By giving its personnel the ‘big picture’ of minerals processing, theWeirMineralsMill Circuit University ensures that customers benefit from a broader, solution-focused approach. “Offering sustainable solutions to the minerals processing sector – rather than just products – needs insight and under- standing of the operational context,” says TeddyMalunga, Principal Process Engineer at Weir Minerals Africa. “The Mill Circuit University gives our customer-facing staff knowledge of the full circuit, as well as where our various products make their specific contributions.” This has become a vital aspect of the modern mining industry, as customers look says. These include quicker lead times and a valuable contribution to Mining Charter compliance. “Having our manufacturing facilities relatively close to our customers also fa- cilitates our engineered-to-order approach,” he says. “We spend time with customers whenever possible – through our compre- hensive branch network – to understand their conditions and requirements.” For mines across the commodity spec- trum, Weir Minerals’ rubber hoses deliver long wear life in applications from the de- manding conditions inmineral sands dredg- ing operations to use for tailings, cyclone feed or thickener underflow. “Our hoses must deal not only with abrasive materials, but also unexpected foreign objects in slurry, some of which may be sharp,” he says. “Nonetheless, as an example, we have seen our hoses inmineral sands applications last up to seven years – considerably longer than most customers are used to.” WeirMinerals alsomanufactures related equipment suchasflexibledistancepieces to customer specifications insteadofusingnor -

A Warman DWU dirty water pump with Linatex hose used for pumping process water.

mal bellows, notes Budhu. With its Linatex ® wear liner, these items last considerably lon- ger. In addition, they can be used to connect pipework that is not well aligned. Weir Minerals Africa has an extensive footprint across the continent to deliver efficient technical support for its range of

rubber linedhoses. This technical experience, coupled with the premium quality liners and the consistency achieved through using the semi-automatedmanufacturingprocess gives customers theassuranceof awell-engineered product for the application. www.minerals.weir

Weir Minerals’ Mill Circuit University

a year, the Weir Minerals Mill Circuit University in the Africa and Middle East region enrols about 25 candidates per course. They learn from both internal and external presenters, and are familiarised with plant processes and Weir Minerals products. The involvement of the University of Pretoria in the minerals processing component of the course adds a special value, including the award of continuous professional development (CPD) points. Course attendees also benefit from a visit to the university’s Department of Material Science and Metallurgical Engineering, which provides more practical insights. “We also see the value in sharing a range of ‘soft skills’ in our courses,” he says. “This includes communication skills, neuro-linguistic programming and rela- tionship building.” An important aspect of the course is to empower Weir Minerals Africa personnel to understand the needs of customers more clearly and focus on their key perfor- mance indicators (KPI) such as plant avail- ability, throughput and recoveries. These factors are then included in the process of identifying the appropriate products and designing solutions that meet the sustain- ability needs of its clients. www.minerals.weir

increasingly for technology partners who can offer and support integrated solutions, says Malunga. He highlights that Weir Minerals Africa’s comprehensive offering covers processing stages from crushing, grinding, classification, separation and rub - ber lining to slurry transportation, mine de- watering systems and tailingsmanagement. “The Mill Circuit University ensures that we all grasp the full range of minerals processing fundamentals in addition to our particular product specialisations,” he says. “This allows us to understand the client’s processes better, and collaboratemore eas- ily across our ownprocess, CIP, engineering, supply chain and projects departments.” Holding five-day courses three times

Weir Minerals’ Mill Circuit University gives customer-facing staff full knowledge of the products in a mill circuit.

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