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African gold mine receives mobile firefighting set

30th January 2015

By: Mia Breytenbach

Creamer Media Deputy Editor: Features

  

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Pumps and pump components supplier Grundfos supplied a containerised firefighting set – the first Grundfos set of its kind to be supplied worldwide – to one of West African gold producer Perseus Mining’s gold mines, in Ghana, in October last year.

The South African arm of the Denmark-based parent company assembles and builds the sets, which are designed for the African environment.

The set comprises an integrated pump and control system with a diesel engine and an electric unit, and the required controllers, internal piping and fittings, all built into in a 40 ft container.

“This firefighting set is an innovative solution for Africa,” Grundfos marketing manager Lorraine Smart says, noting that the system meets the requirements of the NFPA20 (US National Fire Protection Association 20 codes).

The fire sets for South Africa that are built to Automatic Sprinkler Inspection Bureau specification, and which are unique to South Africa, are tested at Grundfos in line with the required testing specifications.

The system is a quick and simple installed fire-protection solution for the mines, Smart says, adding that it also reduces construction costs.

Grundfos is also designing and producing the system in different sizes or units, such as in 20 ft containers, Smart says, noting that the company aims to supply these systems to the South African mining industry.

Diverse Offering
Grundfos also provides chemical dosing units, which include vertical multistage pumps and dosing pumps. These pumps, supplied to local and African mines, can be used in mining processes and water treatment, as well as by general industry and in municipal applications.

Another system produced by the company, and similar to the containerised firefighting set, includes a packaged chlorine dosing solution for water treatment, which comprises a built-in dosing unit within a mobile container. Grundfos has, to date, supplied more than six of these systems at various sites in South Africa.

Meanwhile, recent projects include the supply of a NFPA firefighting set to one of mining major BHP Billiton’s mines in 2013. The company also supplied another firefighting set to Johannesburg-based AngloGold Ashanti’s Mponeng gold mine, one of the deepest mines in the world.

In addition, platinum producer Anglo American Platinum, in Rustenburg, selected Grundfos’ DWK submersible pumps, which are designed for dewatering and drainage applications, as a standard product at its mines.

The cast iron construction of the DWK pump and its hydraulic design contribute to its durability and high efficiency, as well as installation flexibility. The DWK is designed with a top discharge pipe and suction strainer.

Grundfos also supplied high-pressure pumps for mining explosives company BME in Malawi, as well as pumps for dewatering applications for another AngloGold Ashanti mine, in Ghana, and at the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kinsenda copper mine, in the Katanga province.

Gaining Mining Industry Traction
Popular Grundfos products used in the African market include the CR vertical multistage in-line pump range, which is available in two grades of corrosion-resistant stainless steel, cast iron and all-titanium, with 13 flow sizes that can produce pressure of up to 20 bar; and the long-coupled (NK) end-suction pumps range, which are single-stage, centrifugal volute pumps with an axial suction port, horizontal shaft and radial discharge port.

Although Grundfos has only been exploring opportunities in the mining industry for the past ten years, and has exhibited only for the third time at the Electra Mining Africa trade show last year, Smart looks forward to seeing more Grundfos pumps being applied at South African and African mines in future.

“Despite the significant challenges which the mining industry has faced in the past year, particularly the effects of the five-month-long platinum sector strike, the pumps industry is no longer limited only to South African markets. It is also experiencing significant activity in West and Central Africa,” she points out, concluding that Grundfos will, therefore, aim to gain more traction in this market this year.

Edited by Leandi Kolver
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

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