APE MULTISTAGE PUMP The pump boasts pressure-boosting, fire-fighting and water-circulation functionalities suited to the mining industry
Johannesburg-based pumps manufacturers APE Pumps and Mather+Platt, owned by India-based multinational pumps manu- facturer WPIL, have bought factory space alongside their existing pumps factory as part of efforts to expand their portfolio as pumps suppliers.
APE Pumps and Mather+Platt sales GM Richard Rudling tells Mining Weekly that the expansion programme follows WPIL’s 2012 acquisition of the two companies.
He highlights that Mather+Platt has been a leading brand name in the South African pumps manufacturing industry since 1950 and that the company has been manufacturing and selling its own pumps for years. Rudling adds that Mather+Platt is also an authorised distributor of world-renowned brands like Vanton chemical pumps and EIM submersible pumps, and also supplies Viking gear pumps.
Local company APE Pumps manufactures engineered turbine, split case, end-suction, vertical sump and multistage pumps, while WPIL has a wealth of experience in mining operations.
APE Pumps’ product portfolio includes single-stage vertical pumps and nonself- priming volute casing centrifugal pumps. APE also manufactures high-pressure pumps with pressure-boosting, firefighting and water-circulation functions that are especially useful in mining.
Rudling highlights that, together, APE Pumps, Mather+Platt and WPIL offer the best pumping solutions for the local market and specifically for the mining industry.
The companies’ expansion plan also includes improving their pumps’ functionality, says the companies’ engineering head, Dave Johnson, adding that the companies have developed technologies that make their products cost effective and more wear resistant.
He notes that the factory expansion will allow for increased production.
Johnson concludes that the company will launch a new range of split-case pumps at the Electra Mining Africa conference, which will take place from September 15 to 19 at the Nasrec Expo centre, in Johannesburg.