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Processing materials at a Chilean copper mine
applications mining
Processing materials at a Chilean copper mine Minera Escondida is a copper mine, located in the north of Chile and situated in a chain of mountains known as Domeyko, part of the great Andes Range. In its most recent expansion project, ITT Industries' Engineered Valves Group Fabri-Valve products were specified to cover all the slurry, water and lime applications.
that time, 20, 48 inch and 54 inch ported slide gate valves were supplied in order to be installed at the tailings system of the mine. These valves continue to be operating flawlessly under very tough service conditions.
At the end of a 180 km pipeline, Goulds Pumps vertical turbine pumps and valves from ITT Industries’ Engineered Valves Group provide water service at the seaside concentration plant.
Valves for key applications
Minera Escondida is at an altitude of 3,100 meters above sea level. About 160 kilometer southeast of Antofagasta – known locally as the ‘mining capital of the world’ – the environment around the mine is a complete desert. It never rains. Copper was discovered at the mine at great depth in 1981, and mining operations started in 1990 with an initial capacity of 55,000 tons per day. This capacity has been constantly increased over the years through several expansion projects to finally reach, after the last phase, a total of 127,000 tons per day. Minera Escondida is now the largest copper producer in the form of concentrate on the planet as a single mine. The raw copper ore from the mine is mixed in a water solution to form a concentrate and then transported in a 160 km-long pipe line down to the coastline near Antofagasta. At the plant in Antofagasta they receive and process the concentrate by taking out as much water as possible before shipping. ITT Industries’ Engineered Valves Group had already supplied an important Fabri-Valve-AE order to Escondida during the third mine expansion. At
18
www.worldpumps.com
In the most recent expansion project, Fabri-Valve products were specified to cover all the slurry, water and lime applications. A total of over 200 valves were supplied in sizes varying from 2 inches to 24 inches. These valves were installed and began service both at the mine and the processing plant and have been placed in a number of key applications within the process at both sites. In the mine, ITT Industries’ valves are used in the tailings system, discharge of thickeners, water for ball mills, and the lime plant. In the processing plant, the valves are used in the water treatment plant, loading of press filters, and in the thickener process. ITT Industries’ pumps also play a key role in the management of fluids throughout the process of mining, transporting and processing the ore. Numerous vertical turbine and horizontal pumps from Goulds, ranging in size up to 1,000 hp, are used at the mine plant, the concentration plant and the cathode plant for process, reclaimation and clean water service. Additional Goulds chemical and miscellaneous process pumps are employed at the mine plant. At the mine’s oxide plant, close to 60 Goulds Pumps heavy duty process pumps are installed. These pumps are designed for severe process applications and can handle difficult liquids and slurries that involve corrosion, abrasion and temperature extremes. Flygt submersible pumps are found at the Escondida mining complex in the dewatering of the open pit, in the water service at the processing plant and in the wastewater handling. These applications use everything from Flygt's largest drainage pumps to large thoughlet pumps, heavyduty slurry pumps and acid-proof pumps.
WORLD PUMPS September 2005
Processing materials at a Chilean copper mine Minera Escondida is a copper mine, located in the north of Chile and situated in a chain of mountains known as Domeyko, part of the great Andes Range. In its most recent expansion project, ITT Industries' Engineered Valves Group Fabri-Valve products were specified to cover all the slurry, water and lime applications.
that time, 20, 48 inch and 54 inch ported slide gate valves were supplied in order to be installed at the tailings system of the mine. These valves continue to be operating flawlessly under very tough service conditions.
At the end of a 180 km pipeline, Goulds Pumps vertical turbine pumps and valves from ITT Industries’ Engineered Valves Group provide water service at the seaside concentration plant.
Valves for key applications
Minera Escondida is at an altitude of 3,100 meters above sea level. About 160 kilometer southeast of Antofagasta – known locally as the ‘mining capital of the world’ – the environment around the mine is a complete desert. It never rains. Copper was discovered at the mine at great depth in 1981, and mining operations started in 1990 with an initial capacity of 55,000 tons per day. This capacity has been constantly increased over the years through several expansion projects to finally reach, after the last phase, a total of 127,000 tons per day. Minera Escondida is now the largest copper producer in the form of concentrate on the planet as a single mine. The raw copper ore from the mine is mixed in a water solution to form a concentrate and then transported in a 160 km-long pipe line down to the coastline near Antofagasta. At the plant in Antofagasta they receive and process the concentrate by taking out as much water as possible before shipping. ITT Industries’ Engineered Valves Group had already supplied an important Fabri-Valve-AE order to Escondida during the third mine expansion. At
18
www.worldpumps.com
In the most recent expansion project, Fabri-Valve products were specified to cover all the slurry, water and lime applications. A total of over 200 valves were supplied in sizes varying from 2 inches to 24 inches. These valves were installed and began service both at the mine and the processing plant and have been placed in a number of key applications within the process at both sites. In the mine, ITT Industries’ valves are used in the tailings system, discharge of thickeners, water for ball mills, and the lime plant. In the processing plant, the valves are used in the water treatment plant, loading of press filters, and in the thickener process. ITT Industries’ pumps also play a key role in the management of fluids throughout the process of mining, transporting and processing the ore. Numerous vertical turbine and horizontal pumps from Goulds, ranging in size up to 1,000 hp, are used at the mine plant, the concentration plant and the cathode plant for process, reclaimation and clean water service. Additional Goulds chemical and miscellaneous process pumps are employed at the mine plant. At the mine’s oxide plant, close to 60 Goulds Pumps heavy duty process pumps are installed. These pumps are designed for severe process applications and can handle difficult liquids and slurries that involve corrosion, abrasion and temperature extremes. Flygt submersible pumps are found at the Escondida mining complex in the dewatering of the open pit, in the water service at the processing plant and in the wastewater handling. These applications use everything from Flygt's largest drainage pumps to large thoughlet pumps, heavyduty slurry pumps and acid-proof pumps.
WORLD PUMPS September 2005