GEHO Experience
The GEHO Commitment to the Mine Backfill Industry
Weir Minerals Netherlands b.v. is part of the Weir
Minerals division, one of three divisions that form The
Weir Group based in Scotland.
Weir Minerals Netherlands b.v. has established itself as
the technological leader in high pressure, crankshaft
driven, piston diaphragm pumps and hydraulically driven
piston pumps, under the trade name GEHO.
These pumps are currently serving worldwide a wide
variety of applications in the mining, mineral processing
and pipeline transportation industries.
GEHO pumps has been working with the industry to
make tailings pipeline operation reliable and economical,
for example for mine backfill applications. Backed by
extensive application experience, GEHO is in a unique
position to offer the best of technology, equipment,
service and technical support and solve your particular
mine backfill system. With this capacity, GEHO offers
bottom line advantages and great value for your money.
GEHO EXPERIENCE
2011 Uchalinsky GOK Russia
Mine backfill
EngiTech Company in Moscow has ordered one
hydraulically driven piston pump, model DHT 21140-2F,
for a mine backfill application at the Uchalinsky Mine in
the Ural region. This pump with transfer tube will handle
75 m/h of mine tailings with large amounts of course
particles.
2009 Niobec Mine, Canada
Mine backfill
Canadian gold-miner Iamgold will expand its mill and add
a paste backfill plant at its Niobec niobium mine, in
Quebec. Niobium is used in specialty high-strength
steels, and the Niobec operation currently produces about
10% of global consumption of the metal.
Construction will begin immediately and the project is
scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2010.
The Niobec mine has traditionally been mined using a
mining method of longhole open stoping without backfill,
which means that significant levels of ore-grade rock is
permanently left behind. By changing to a different mining
method using paste backfill, made from mill tailings mixed
with cement and another binder, which is pumped
underground, Iamgold will be able to achieve nearly
complete extraction of the ore body, leaving behind
almost no ore pillars. For the lower block at Niobec, paste
Copyright Weir Minerals Netherlands b.v.- August 2006
backfill will allow mining of ore that would have been
left as pillars and not available with the current
method. Construction of the paste backfill plant and
associated underground infrastructure will also begin
immediately and is expected to be completed in the
second quarter of next year. For this new backfill
plant, the company has ordered two hydraulically
driven piston pumps, model DHC 26220, which
handle 150 m/h of backfill paste against 90 bar.
2008 Tulsequah Chief Mine Canada
Mine backfill
The Tulsequah Chief project near the city of Atlin in
British Columbia, centres on re-opening an
underground zinc-copper-lead-gold-silver mine that
closed in 1957. Mineral reserves are sufficient for
eight years of production, with a strong likelihood that
more ore will be found at greater depth and
immediately adjacent to the known orebody. The
owner of the mine, Redcorp Ventures Ltd., has
ordered a hydraulically driven piston pump, model
DHC 21180, for the mine backfill application. The
pump will handle 68 m/h of mine tailings against 95
bar discharge pressure.
2007 Konkola Deep Mine, Zambia
Mine backfill
The Konkola Deep Mining Project (KDMP) aims at
deepening the Konkola mine in Chililabombwe to
access the deep rich ore that contains 250 million
tones of copper ore at 4 per cent contained copper at
an investment of 400 million dollars, this makes it the
largest single investment in Zambia and is poised to
increase the life of the mine for another 22 years, to
2032.
Konkola Copper Mines has ordered four hydraulically
driven piston pumps, 2x model DHC 21180 and 2x
model DHC 1590 for their mine backfill project. The
pumps are rated for a capacity between 45-145 m/h
and discharge pressure between 12 and 20 bar.
2006 Somincor, Portugal
Mine backfill
For their Neves Corvo Mine, Somincor ordered one
hydraulic driven piston pump, model DHC 21200.
Somicor has 4 GEHO crankshaft driven piston
diaphragm pumps in operation for mine dewatering.
The hydraulic driven pump is going to transport mine
tailings for a mine backfill system.
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 GEHO Experience
2005 Stillwater, USA
Mine backfill
The Stillwater Palladium mine in Montana, USA, is going
to use a second duplex piston diaphragm pump, model
ZPM 700, for transporting sand slurry to a disposal area.
2004 Northwich, UK
Mixture of salt, brine, cement and fly ash
The English contractor Wrekin Construction awarded
Weir Minerals Netherlands a contract for two hy-draulic
driven piston pumps, type DHC 21180-8, for the
Northwich Salt Mines Stabilisation project in England.
Part of the town centre of Northwich is sinking due to
flooded salt mines. The brine water is pumped out and
mixed with PFA (Pulverised Fuel Ash) and cemented to
form a stable and gradually hardening slurry that is
pumped back into the mine by the two GEHO pumps.
The pumps will operate in parallel be-cause the whole
backfill operation has to be completed by the end of 2006,
after which the pumps will probably be re-used by Wrekin
for other backfill jobs in the UK. A reference visit gave
Wrekin valuable input for the pipeline design.
2004 Yunnan Metallurgical Group, China
Lead and zinc tailings
The Yunnan company ordered three hydraulically driven
piston pumps, model DHC 21180-E for a mine backfill
application. The pumps will handle 60 m/h of lead and
zinc tailings at a discharge pressure of max. 120 bar.
2000 Inco Ltd., Canada
Mine tailings slurry
Inco, which has already six pumps in operation at various
mining facilities in Canada, has purchased a crankshaft
driven piston pump, model TZP 500, for a mine backfill
system.
2000 Stillwater Mine, USA
Mine tailings slurry
Stillwater Mine, Montana, purchased one duplex piston
diaphragm pump, model ZPM 800, for their mine backfill
system. The duplex pump will transport a mixture of sand
slurry and mine water (57 m/h against 69 bar).
1997 Power plant Velenje, Slovenia
Fly/furnace ash slurry
Premogovnik awards Weir Minerals Netherlands a
contract to supply two ZPM 400 fly ash disposal pumps.
This unit transports high density ash slurries from the
power plant alternately to a disposal pond or in a nearby
underground coal mine for backfill. Pump capacity is 25
m/h.
Copyright Weir Minerals Netherlands b.v. 2009
1997, JCI South Deep Mine, South Africa
Gold tailings slurry
With this 1997 order for four piston pumps, JCI has
now a total of eleven GEHO DHT pumps in
operation for mine backfill one of the deepest gold
mines in the world.
1996 Kali und Salz, Germany
Mine tailings slurry
The German potash mining company Kali und Salz
has acquired several mines in the former
communistic eastern part of the country. As many of
the old stopes in these mines had never been
backfilled there is a danger to the environment due to
possible collapse. New German mining regulations
oblige Kali und Salz to introduce a high density
backfill system. To plan this system for their mine in
Unterbreizbach, Kali und Salz has awarded the
German engineering company Jacoby to design an
automatic system to reslurry ashes delivered from
waste incinerators and mix it with water and cement.
The system is designed to create 60 m3/h of a
mixture with a certain rheology to achieve optimum
and most economic conditions for backfill. Two
GEHO hydraulic driven DHC pumps charge the
slurry to the stopes at a pressure of up to 120 bar.
1996, Galmoy Mine, Ireland
Dolomite/pyrite slurry
The UK engineering company Davy International
purchased a hydraulically driven piston pump, model
DHC 21140-8D. This pump unit will be used for mine
backfill of the Galmoy Mine on Kilkenney County,
Ireland.
1996, Wolfram, Austria
Mine tailings slurry
Due to the satisfactory results of the first TZPM 180
pump for mine backfill, Wolfram placed an order for
one more triplex pump, model TZPM 250. A new
pump was necessary due to expansion of the mine
and its capacity. This second pump is also going to
transport the very abrasive tailings for mine backfill.
1994 JCI South Deep Mine, South Africa
Gold tailings slurry
JCI purchases two additional pumps for mine backfill
of the South Deep Gold Mine; identical to the two
hydraulically driven piston pumps, model DHT
21140, ordered in 1992.
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1994 Sweetwater County, Wyoming USA
Tailings slurry
Rhone-Poulenc of Wyoming Co. operates an
underground soda ash mine and refinery. The tailings
disposal system (wet pond) was re-engineered to return
tailings to the mine. A paste is pumped down boreholes
and then horizontally to the mine area being filled, vertical
drop 245 m (800'), horizontal distance max. 3650 m
(12,000'). A high density paste system was selected to
minimise bleed water at the filling area. As a result, the
installation of an expensive mine dewatering system was
avoided. Two GEHO industrial paste pumps, model
DHT 21140, were purchased for this application. The two
pumps will be driven by a common 500 hp power pack
and handle paste from a mixer which combines various
flows consisting of a screen oversize, a rod mill product
and thickener underflow. The system is rated for 76,4
m3/h 56,3% Cw ore tailings paste at 103 bar (1500 psi). A
conventional slurry system would typically operate at 30-
35% Cw only and would require seven centrifugal slurry
pumps in series. GEHO conducted extensive lab and
pumpability tests to determine the most suitable type and
size pump for the application.
1993 El Indio, Chile
Cement/gold tailings slurry
The El Indio Mine is located at 4,000 m above sea level.
Lac Minerals own the mine, which is the largest gold
producer in Chile. The principal mining method utilised at
this mine is undercut and fill. Mill tailings will be used as
the main source of backfill material. Dewatered tailings at
66-68% solids by weight, are transported a total distance
of 1,870 m (6,100'), to the backfill preparation plant which
is situated 283 m (930') above the mill. This material is
transported with one GEHO ZPM 600 pump, which has
a capacity of 28 to 34 m3/h (125-150 USgpm), at a
discharge pressure of 63 bar (914 psi). This ZPM 600
pump was preferred over an existing pump with hydraulic
drive, as a result of its features, functions and operational
benefits. At the backfill preparation plant, slurry is
combined with 5-6% of cement, resulting in a backfill
slurry with a solids concentration of 76% by weight. One
GEHO DHT 10115, hydraulic driven piston pump,
transports this dense backfill material to the backfill
stopes. This pump has a capacity of 42 m3/h (185
USgpm), at a discharge pressure of 42 bar (610 psi).
1993 Morro Velho, Brazil
Gold tailings slurry
Morro Velho Mining Co. (Anglo-American Corp. 49%
interest), is Brazil's largest gold producer. The original
operations are concentrated at Nova Lima, in the state of
Copyright Weir Minerals Netherlands b.v. 2009
Minas Gerais. At the Mina de Raposos Mine, located
in the Nova Lima area, one GEHO ZPM 600 pump
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is utilised for mine backfill. 20-30 m /h (90-130
USgpm) of tailings, at a solids concentration of 70%
by weight, are pumped a total distance of
approximately 3,000 m (9800'), to the mining area.
Pump discharge pressure is approximately 40 bar
(580 psi), with pump design pressure being 61 bar
(885 psi).
1992, '93 JCI South Deep Mine, South Africa
Gold tailings slurry
The South Deep gold ore body is located 60
kilometres south west of Johannesburg, South Africa
and extends to a depth of 3300 m (10,800') below
sea level. During the first phase of development, no
shaft access will be in place and ore hoisting will take
place via an existing shaft, at approximately 3
kilometres (1.9 miles) distance. In view of the limited
capacity of this shaft, ore processing will be handled
underground, with all waste material being placed
directly into stopes as backfill. This system requires
the pumping of high density backfill (85% wt.), over a
distance of 1000 m (3280'), with a 250 m (820')
vertical lift. For this high density backfill pumping,
four GEHO DHT 21140 hydraulically driven piston
pumps were supplied. All of the supplied pumps were
of the "transfer tube" design. In addition, two pumps
were also equipped with "crusher" type non-return
valves, which eliminate slurry back flow. Each pump
is capable of pumping 0-45 m3/h (0-200 Usgpm),
against a discharge pressure of 94 bar (1365 psi). All
pumps and valves have been designed to handle 26
mm (plus 1") aggregate. In 1993, in order to increase
flexibility of their backfill operations, JCI purchased
an additional GEHO pump. This newest unit is a
model DHT 21120 and will be used as an
intermediate pump in the backfill system.
1990 Mineria Nor Peru Quiruvilca Mine, Peru
Mine tailings slurry
This silver, zinc, lead and copper mine is located in
the northern portion of the Andes Mountains, at an
elevation of 4,200 m (13,800').
An old (1920) triplex plunger pump had been used to
transport backfill tailings to the mine, where the
stopes were filled manually. Maintenance costs on
this existing pump were US $200,000 annually, and
pump availability was poor due to average valve life
of 40 hours, and plunger life of only 250 hours.
In 1990, Mineria Nor Peru installed a GEHO TZPM
180 pump for transporting backfill 5 kilometres (3 1/8
miles) horizontally and 245 m (800') vertically,
directly into the mining stopes. The design
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specifications for this backfill pump were a capacity of 30
m3/h (132 USgpm), at a discharge pressure of 103 bar
(1500 psi). The material to be transported was an
extremely abrasive, 65% by weight, 28 mesh,
quartz/pyrite slurry. The Miller number of this slurry has
been determined to be 179. In order to further improve
valve life, the originally supplied "mushroom" valves have
been successfully replaced with the GEHO patented
UP-TIME valve. The net result of this improved backfill
transportation system, has been a 15% increase in mine
production.
1990 Cominco-Snip, British Columbia, Canada
Mine tailings slurry
The Snip Mine is a 450-tpd underground gold mine
situated in British Columbia's Coastal mountain range.
The mine workings are inside Johnny Mountain, at
elevations from 60 to 350 metres (200'-1150') above the
surface plant. Cominco ordered two ZPM 600 pumps, to
transport dense tailings backfill (65% Cw) from the
processing plant to excavated mining areas. Each pump
is capable of a flow of 34 m3/h (150 USgpm), at a
discharge pressure of 63 bar (915 psi). One pump is
located at the mill and feeds the second GEHO pump,
which is installed at the 180 m (590') elevation of the
mine. Fine gravity is required to liberate most of the gold
particles in the ore. After processing, only about 30% of
mill feed is of sufficient particle size to allow adequate
drainage at backfill. Since the mine's productive capacity
depends on how quickly stopes can be put back into
production after backfill, a separate waste rock grinding
circuit in the mill provides additional backfill material. The
mill-generated fill is also augmented by placement of
development waste rock as additional fill material. Backfill
primarily acts as a working sill for the next lift.
1989 Inco, Canada
Cement tailings slurry
In 1988, Inco Limited awarded GEHO a rental/purchase
contract for one DHT 21101 hydraulic driven piston pump
with transfer tube. This pump was designed for 75 m3/h
(330 USgpm), at a maximum intermittent discharge
pressure of 83 bar (1200 psi).
In 1989, as part of Inco's high density backfill research
program, this pump was used to fill a number of vertical
retreat mining stopes at the Garson Mine. During these
backfill trials, materials with pulp densities as high as 87%
by weight were pumped. In 1990, having fulfilled all
pumping performance parameters, GEHO received a
Purchase Order for the outright purchase of this pump. In
1993, having completed numerous additional fill pumping
trials, this pump was installed on a permanent basis at
Inco's Frood-Stobie mining complex.
Copyright Weir Minerals Netherlands b.v. 2009
1987 Wolfram, Austria
Mine tailings slurry
Wolfram Bergbau und Httengesellschaft operates a
tungsten mine, located in the Groglockner mountain
range. One GEHO TZPM 180 pump is used to
transport 65% by weight backfill tailings, a total
distance of approximately 3,000 m (9,800'). The
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design specifications of this pump are 30 m /h (132
USgpm), at a discharge pressure of 107 bar (1550
psi). The tailing material has a maximum particle size
of 0.2 mm and is extremely abrasive, with a Miller
number of 200. The originally installed, cone type
suction and discharge valves, exhibited a wear life of
500-800 hours. With the development of a new,
patented, valve design, GEHO was able to triple
this wear life. This new slurry valve is now marketed
under the registered trade name UP-TIME. It is
spherically shaped and has matching metal and
elastomer faces - within the valve and seat. The long
wear life of this valve, is a result of unique geometry,
as well as, special metallurgy. As a result, the wear
rate is reduced and wear allowance is increased. In
this fashion, the sealing function is maintained
irrespective of wear.
1986 Powerplant Velenje, Slovenia
Fly/furnace ash slurry
In 1986 Gip Gradis awards GEHO a contract to
supply a ZPM 500 fly ash disposal pump. This unit
transports high density ash slurries at a capacity of
25 m/h from the power plant alternately to a disposal
pond or in a nearby underground coal mine for
backfill. The pump was overhauled in 1997.
1983 Minas de Arcata Mine
Mine tailings slurry
Minas de Arcata is one of the largest silver producing
companies in Peru. At its mining operation site in the
Andean Mountains, Minas de Arcata is using a piston
diaphragm pump for its mine backfill system. The
ZPM 500 pump is used for transporting mine tailings
slurry at a capacity of 19 m/h against 28 bar
discharge pressure.
All of the listed projects, which total 46 pumps, are
testimony of the experience, involvement and
commitment GEHO pumps have in Mine Backfill
Systems
Weir Minerals Netherlands b.v.
P.O. Box 249, 5900 AE Venlo, the Netherlands
Tel: +31(0)77-3895200, Fax: +31(0)77-3824844
Email: weir@weirminerals.com, www.weirminerals.com
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