Modern Mining April 2023

PUMPS AND VALVES

Atlas Copco and IPR affirm focus on customer applications The partnership between global brand Atlas Copco and local dewa tering pump specialist IPR breaks the mould by focusing on innova tion and product development to meet specific customer needs.

L ast year, IPR became the master distributor for Atlas Copco dewatering pumps in most of southern Africa. In a recent visit to IPR’s head quarters in Johannesburg, senior Atlas Copco managers and IPR leadership explained to Modern Mining the significance of the IPR appointment, and outlined the strategy going forward. The partnership between Atlas Copco and IPR looks set to underpin an exciting growth phase in the dewatering pump segment for both companies. Faouzi Belgharbia, Atlas Copco’s General Manager Power Technique for Southern Africa, highlighted the growing role of the pump and flow products within the Atlas Copco offering, alongside its leading air compressor and generator ranges. “Pumps have been identified as one of the most important pillars for strategic development within the business globally,” said Belgharbia. “The inter national market for pumps is certainly very large, and our intention is to develop our market share.” With its product development experience going back more than 100 years, Atlas Copco designs and develops highly efficient and environment friendly dewatering pumps. This range includes wet prime and dry prime diesel driven pumps, as well as submersible pumps for the three key pumping cat egories – dewatering, sludge and slurry. The diesel driven pumps range in capacity from a 30 m to 150 m head, with flow rates from 50 to 1500 cubic metres per hour. The submersible range of Atlas Copco pumps extends from 0.4 kW to 54 kW power. “We have excelled as an innovative solutions

Atlas Copco submersible pumps have an established reputation for reliable operation in harsh conditions. provider, designing and manufacturing pumps that deliver optimal performance for custom ers at the lowest possible energy consumption and cost of ownership,” said David Stanford, Atlas Copco’s Business Line Manager Power Technique for Southern Africa. “We also want to be close to the customer, and the best strategy for doing this depends on where we are in the world; in Southern Africa, given IPR’s considerable existing market foot print, we will leverage our relationship with IPR to achieve this.” IPR’s master distributorship with Atlas Copco begins with a focus on eight countries: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Madagascar and Mauritius. While mining will be one of the leading markets for the dewater ing range of pumps, other important sectors will be

Centre: The Atlas Copco range of dewatering pumps includes submersible and diesel driven skid and trailer mounted pumps. Below: The PAC H boasts a number of features that help customers to reduce the cost of ownership through shorter repair times.

feature

24  MODERN MINING  April 2023