Mining and exploration company Kenmare Resources has placed a multimillion-rand order for the supply of 32 pumps for its Moma titanium minerals mine, in northern Mozambique. This is mining solutions provider Weir Minerals Africa’s largest pump order since its merger with the CH Warman pump group in 2008.

Kenmare’s Moma mine contains reserves of heavy minerals, which are mined using dredges that float in an artificial mining pond. The dredges pump the mineral sands that form the wall of the pond into a floating wet concentrator plant.

A heavy mineral concentrate is produced, which is then pumped to a nearby minerals separation plant where it is separated into final products for export by Kenmare’s product transshipment vessel.

This vessel is self-propelled, self-discharging and capable of carrying minerals from the jetty to the transshipment point, where product is loaded onto the customer’s vessel.

The original processing plant, which was fitted with Warman pumps, was bought by Kenmare in Australia and commissioned at the Moma mine. Weir Minerals had already been awarded a service contract to maintain the pumps.

“The order for the 32 pumps is part of the expansion project and includes five Warman 20/18 AH horizontal heavy-duty rubber-lined slurry pumps with standard high-chrome metal impellers,” says Weir Minerals Africa’s project engineer, JP Joseph.

These are the biggest AH pumps in the range, which are designed for continuous pumping of highly abrasive and corrosive slurries, and are capable of handling more than 4 800 m3/h of slurry.

Of the five new Warman 20/18 AH pumps, two will be installed in parallel for dredge feed degrit duty, while another two will serve as disposal pumps to discharge fine tails back into the mining pond. The fifth pump will operate as a rougher spiral feed pump.

When evaluating alternative pump models, engineers should consider total energy and operating costs over the full service life of the impeller. “The Warman impellers are designed to produce an optimum balance between wear life and lifetime efficiency,” says Joseph.

He believes that the Warman 20/18 AH pumps will prove ideal at the Moma Sands operation’s wet concentrator plant for high-volume mineral dredging.

“Weir Minerals’ capability supports an array of customer specifications with products easily adaptable to meet specific process requirements,” Joseph adds.

“The slow-running speeds of the Warman AH heavy-duty slurry pump range, together with a comprehensive choice of abrasion- resistant alloys and elastomers, are all equipment features that allow Weir to deliver efficient pump performance and service life in abrasive mining and minerals processing applications,” he says.