Modern Mining January 2022

positive displacement, peristaltic, vertical and sub- mersible and mine-dewatering pumps. Wide range of valves Valves are a critical part of the system that often gets neglected, says Koorts. “At the moment, I don’t think there is enough acknowledgement of the value of the valve,” he says. “Many still treat a valve as a consumable – it breaks, you replace! Weir Minerals has a different philosophy; we treat valves as capi- tal equipment. We believe that valves should be designed to last – we are lifecycle oriented.” Koorts believes it is also important to deal with a supplier that offers a full range of solutions. Weir Minerals offers a wide range of valves, including Isogate knife gate valves for moderate slurry appli- cations, Delta Industrial knife gate valves for severe service applications and Isogate pinch valves. The company’s Isogate and Delta Industrial knife gate valves are designed to handle tough slurry applica- tions while also ensuring ease of maintenance. Installing the right valve for the application also calls for a supplier that understands the variables that affect valve selection. A valve application may be for isolation, control or safety. Once it has been

system, they all need to talk to each other and work in sync to achieve the desired production efficiency. A pump system that is well-designed not only maxi- mises overall system efficiency, says Koorts, but can also be adapted to changing process demands in the future. In the long run, it means lower lifecycle costs and higher return on investment for end-users. To be a real player in this market, suppliers should therefore be able to supply the entire range of pumping solutions. “In recent years we have seen an influx of smaller suppliers that only offer one or two types of pumps. For example, some suppliers only offer process pumps, while others do dewa- tering pumps. There are very few that offer a total range. As a result, they can only optimise one area of the system they understand, and the rest is left stranded,” he says. To provide context, Koorts says Weir Minerals was recently approached by a client to offer a solu- tion for pumping clean water from a local dam to feed the glands for a slurry pump on site. “If we didn’t understand the slurry and dewatering pump- ing combination, we would not have been able to solve the problem for the customer. It’s therefore imperative to acknowledge the importance of work- ing with a supplier that looks at systems holistically,” he says. Koorts believes the reputability of the supplier and their ability to offer different types of pumps from one stable should therefore be considered as a critical factor in any buying decision. With over 150 years engineering expertise in the pump sector, Weir Minerals’ range of pumps includes a solution for every application, from centrifugal slurry pumps, piston diaphragm and hose diaphragm pumps to

A Warman 350 mill circuit pump being assembled at Weir Minerals Africa’s Alrode facility.

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