ROSSING URANIUM MINE The Hippo duplex stainless steel vertical slurry submersible pump used at the Rössing uranium mine, in Namibia
Centurion-based slurry pumping solutions provider Hazleton Pumps has entered another market, supplying an Israeli company with its locally manufactured Hippo pumps range, which is designed to meet the needs of projects worldwide.
Hazleton Pumps CEO Thys Wehmeyer highlights that the family-owned company manufactured its first duplex stainless steel pump in 2000, with its ability to manufacture according to client specifications, again resulting in the company penetrating a new export market. The use of specialised materials like duplex stainless steel enables the pumping of corrosive and abrasive liquids containing solids.
The client, integrated multi- national phosphate group Rotem Amfert Negev, selected Hazleton Pumps because it could provide a pump that met operational requirements, Wehmeyer states.
“The experience that the company has gained over the years by supplying local as well as international phosphate mines proved invaluable when the enquiry for suitable pumps was received from Israel. “Consequently, we delivered a Hippo 150 ℓ, VBC vertical spindle pump that is designed and developed from a specia- lised stainless steel known as Sanicro 28 for castings [a high- alloy, multipurpose austenitic stainless steel equivalent to 904L stainless steel for shafts and other manufactured components for service in highly corrosive conditions,” he explains.
Wehmeyer states that the pump will be used to pump corrosive phosphoric acid that contains solids, adding that Rotem Amfert Negev has also enquired about the supply of more such pumps for an expansion project involving its mine and its process plant.
Exports to Namibia
Hazleton Pumps has also been supplying the Rössing uranium mine, in Namibia, since 1994 with duplex stainless steel vertical spindle slurry pumps.
The mine’s latest order comprises three Model 200 ℓ VTC, 185 kW Hippo vertical spindle pumps, manufactured from a specilased duplex stainless steel known as CD4CMu. Hazleton Pumps delivered the order in April, bringing the number of these pumps supplied to Rössing to 18.
Wehmeyer points out that Rössing, a member of the Rio Tinto group of companies, is celebrating its fortieth anniversary this year, making the mine one of the largest and longest- running openpit uranium mines in the world.
“Owing to the proven reliabi- lity of the Hippo slurry pumps range over the past 22 years, Rössing has placed an addi- tional order for three more such pumps,” he highlights.
Hazleton Pumps not only manufactures and supplies pumps but provides clients with maintenance and spare parts, as well as manuals for companies based outside South Africa that conduct their own maintenance and repairs.