South Africa: Integrated Pump Rental dewatering equipment rescues coal mine from flooding

South Africa-based Integrated Pump Rental recently delivered a fit-for-purpose dewatering equipment to rescue of a coal mine in KwaZulu-Natal from flooding in the open pit.

This was after the unexpected failure of one of the mine’s own pumps that came at a bad time when the national COVID-19 lockdown meant it would take some time before pump repairs or replacements were possible.

According to Integrated Pump Rental, some heavy downpours aggravated the situation, demanding there be no delay in pit dewatering.

The specialist pump rental organization promptly delivered a Sykes HH130 high-head diesel-driven pump to save the situation. The rugged, 5 t unit is capable of pumping at a head of over 140 m high at a flow of between 80-90 litres per second, according to the company.

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A range of Sykes self-priming diesel driven pumps is suitable for de-watering applications where power is not readily available. The large diesel-driven dewatering pumps are trailer mounted for ease of use and are engineered for optimum pumping with minimum energy consumption.

“From our experience of the mining sector, we know that water in a coal mine is acidic. The complete pump-end we supplied was, therefore, of stainless-steel construction to resist corrosion and ensure reliability and uptime.” said Henru Strydom, Operations Manager at Integrated Pump Rental.

Integrated Pump Rental also delivered solutions to several customers during the lockdown as rainfall across much of the coal-producing province of Mpumalanga raised the risk of flooding.

According to Strydom, mines gain other benefits from renting pumps, in addition to maintaining their vital dewatering activities. There is no large capital outlay, for instance, and running costs can be controlled.

He adds that the renting option relieves mines from handling the maintenance, hence better control their costs. “In addition, we also ensure the pump’s optimal performance, so that mines don’t risk costly downtime,” he concludes.