The Anglo Platinum Waterval Smelter plant is very satisfied with Verder’s VF125 pumps that were acquired with the guidance from Robday Mining Supplies.

 

Robday Mining Supplies, agents of Verder Pumps SA (Pty) Ltd, provide mining supplies to most of the mines in the Rustenburg area. Of these, the Angloplat operation has 3 running VF125 pumps at their Waterval Smelter plant. 

 

For close to 60 years the Verder Group has been providing pumping solutions to industries all over the world. The group is known of their high quality products, innovative technology and above all their knowledge of the industry it supplies. “The VF125 pump, the largest in the Verderflex® peristaltic range, has a 125mm hose inside diameter, and can pump at flows of up to 80m³ per hour and can cope with the toughest of pumping tasks, such as the platinum slurry at the Waterval Smelter plant, with the greatest of ease. No wonder the enthusiasm for the use of the pumps at the plant,” states Robday Mining Supplies Managing Director Ritchie Lamb.

 

With the change of processes at the smelter and the need for reliable quality pumps, Div de Villiers, Engineering Specialist at the Waterval Smelter, took into consideration the Verder range of pumps which are renowned for their durability, and are able to withstand the demand for the capacity for the pumping of slurries. 

 

“After a strategic consultation with Robday Mining Supplies, three VF125 pumps were acquired for the plant. The offloading pump, used for transporting the concentrate (SG 1.5) from the trucks to the tank, previously took one hour 45 minutes, whereas the offloading has been cut right down to 20 minutes. The conditioner pump, working the hardest, provides circulation within the process, keeping the slurry in suspension and ensuring no sediment to settle. The transfer pump transfers the slurry (SG 1.7) 600m to the filter plant. The conditioner pump works approximately 10 hours day the other two pumps only operate 4 to 5 hours a day when the slurry needs to be pumped. The pumps are limited to 50m³/h for SG of 1.7 even though the pump has a capacity to pump up to 80m³,” says Pieter Gresse, Waterval Smelter Fitter. 

 

Gresse who has been with the tollbay smelter plant for 11 years says that the pumps are operating smoothly, with only the regular maintenance that has to be performed on the hoses. “We are extremely happy with pump’s operation,” he confirms.

 

Due to the increase in demand on the pumping of slurries at the smelter, de Villiers has advised Robday that a second tollbay plant is on the cards by the end of the year. This new plant is expected to be built next to the existing plant and be double in size, requiring the use of 6 VF125 pumps to accommodate the capacity. 

 

Moreover, de Villiers is so impressed by the quality of Verder’s pumps that over the next few months Verder’s range of pumps will replace the existing competitor ones when coming across major repairs and/or modifications at the smelter.

 

In the 17 years that de Villiers has been with Anglo Platinum, he says that he has never received such outstanding service, as he has from Robday Mining Supplies. “We are in an extremely fortunate position to be receiving such professional expertise and product knowledge from Robday. Since becoming the plant’s preferred service provider eight months ago, the plant has benefited tremendously from the sound pumping knowledge from the mining suppliers,” concludes de Villiers.

 

Furthermore, with the recommendation from Robday, a VF100 pump was recently delivered to the UG2 Concentrator, the newest plant in the area by the same operation. “This is the first of the Verder range of pumps at the particular plant. In time, the durability of Verder’s quality pumps will break the competitor stronghold at the plant,” believes Lamb.