MechChem Africa November-December 2022

⎪ Water, wastewater and pumping solutions ⎪

Weir Minerals’ pumps never stop evolving While Weir Minerals Africa is known for its extensive range of pumps, Electra Mining Africa gave visitors more insight into how its pump innovations are shared – ensuring that all customers benefit from the company’s best ideas.

A lways a big exhibitor at the Electra Mining Africa exhibition, this year Weir Minerals Africa once again marshalled anunparalleled array of innovativeproducts at its outdoor display. The company’s pumps were among the items that caught visitors’ interests, according to gen eral manager pump products Marnus Koorts. While the variety to suit every applicationwas one talkingpoint, Koorts emphasises the tech nology synergies and thecustomer confidence that comes with its global infrastructure. “Having a very broad spectrum of cutting edgepumpoptions at our disposal allows us to offer our customers exactly what they need,” says Marnus Koorts, general manager for pumpproductsatWeirMineralsAfrica. “It also allows us to leverage technological advances from one brand to another.” Among the innovations on display at the Weir Minerals Africa stand, for instance, was theWarman ® pump’sWRT ® technology,which improves wear life and energy efficiency with noadditional capital cost requirement. This, he says, has also been applied to the company’s Envirotech ® range, another strong slurry pump brand in Africa and the Middle East. TheWarman ® range includes slurrypumps, heavy duty mill circuit pumps, submersible pumps, dewatering pumps and process slurry pumps. Also in the range are GEHO ® positive displacement pumps, known for long distance pumping of high-density tailings for distances of 200 to 300 km. “Electra Mining Africa gave us the chance to introduceour customers toother aspects of our portfolio,” he says. “Most customers deal with the product lines relevant to their daily responsibilities, so it is excitingwhen they can see other aspects of our solutions that could add value.” Another eye-catcher at the exhibition stand was a 50 kW unit from the Warman ® SSB submersible slurry pump range, utilising the wear technology present in the industry proven high chrome alloys used on slurry pumps, again leveraging technology from dif ferent brands. This unit boastedahigh chrome impeller associated with its well-tested A05 material, with the motor encapsulated into the shell. “We have also fine-tuned the ergonomics related to handling these pumps based on our extensive experience in the field,” saysKoorts. “The units are moved around a lot, so lugs that are aligned sideways tend to break off if there is impact. We innovated even though in

Left: Marnus Koorts, general manager for pump products at Weir Minerals Africa, demonstrating the new technology WRT parts for the Envirotech Alpha pump range. Right: AWarman MCR400 slurry pump connected to a Linatex rubber lined spool and Isogate WS 400 knife gate valve.

a small way, by putting the lug facing upwards to avoid damage.” In addition to continuous innovation, he highlights the critical importance of the company’s global infrastructure to support its wide range of pumping equipment. This gives customers confidence that service levels are consistent wherever the pumps are working. “Whether our customer moves from Rustenburg to the Middle East, or from Canada toWest Africa, theywill find the same extensive range of our pumps supported to the same high standard,” he says. “This sense of consistency is important to our customers, especially given the amount of geographical

movement of people in the mining sector.” He notes Warman’s commitment to the ethos of ‘Always Performing, Always Trusted, Always Innovating’, which rests on a depth of institutional knowledge throughout the company’s footprint, giving customers peace of mind across plant functions. “Our level of know-how and accessibility to mining customers is what differentiates WeirMinerals Africa, and it can be difficult to convey if you don’t appreciate the full extent of our offering; this is why our intensive face to face engagements at ElectraMining Africa remain so important,” he concludes. www.minerals.weir

GEHO pumps are used for pumping high density tailings for up to 300 km.

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