Companies Gearing Up
THE inspiration for Australian Pump’s (Aussie Pumps) range of Aussie Mine Boss trash pumps came from the industry itself.
Both infrastructure and operational conditions dictates that only the strong survive.
Mines can’t tolerate downtime, particularly if it’s generated by equipment that isn’t designed for those conditions.
“Nobody ever heard the words ‘go easy on that trash pump, Kevin’ on a mine site,” Aussie Pumps’ chief engineer John Hales said.
Seeing the way commercial style product is used on mine sites led to the evolution of products that are not available from either a US or European manufacturers.
What Mr Hales realised early in the piece, was that on Australian sites, nobody will ever pick up a pump and carry it.
Site OH&S rules are stringently enforced.
If a pump needs to be moved, an excavator or other piece of machine will pick it up by the frame, take it where it needs to go and drop, often not too gently, into the new location.
The result is offshore built trash pumps ending up looking like train wrecks.
Aussie Pumps developed the Mine Boss range to be stronger, tougher and better able to deal with those onerous needs.
Aussie’s 2”, 3” and 4” pumps all offer front opening ports to enable the pump to be cleared, without breaking pipework or dismantling hoses.
They feature heavy duty, high SG, non-clog open impellers and cast iron volutes.
Silicon carbide mechanical seals are standard.
The big advantage over conventional self-priming site pumps is not just the big open impeller but the front opening port.
With that open, chokes can be cleaned out from the belly of the pump in a matter of seconds.
Another benefit is that no special tools are required and more importantly, there’s no necessity to disconnect hoses or pipework.
That is a huge advantage on a mine site.
Aussie’s 2” through to 4” pumps all come with super heavy duty 3/8 ml galvanised steel frames with an integrated lifting bar.
A fire extinguisher, battery isolation and E-Stop are all standard equipment on Aussie’s Mine Spec pumps.
The company has even developed a trolley mounted configuration for the 4” pump.
The trolley mount comes with a bunded tray.
Bigger 6” trash pumps are also part of the Mine Spec range from Australian Pumps.
These pumps will deliver a whopping 6000 lpm flow and offer heads of up to 47.6 metres.
Their suction lift is also impressive. Like the smaller pumps, they will draw water through a vertical lift of up to 7.6 metres.
“We call our self-priming trash pumps ‘Quik Primes’,” Mr Hales said.
“That’s because they draw water faster and further than any conventional self-priming pump.”
The big 6” pumps are powered by either Deutz or in the smaller version, a Kubota three cylinder water cooled diesel.
“Both brands of engines were selected for their reliability, even under the most adverse conditions,” Mr Hales said.
The machines are available with heavy duty trailer configurations.
The 6” Mine Boss kits include fire extinguisher, E-stop and battery isolation.
The big 6” diesels also feature engine protection kits and big fuel tanks that allow up to a full 11 hours run time.
Integrated lifting bars are also fitted even for the trailer mounted units.
“We owe the ideas incorporated in these ‘bullet proof’ machines to the feedback we got from the users,” Mr Hales said.
“Here even at our Sydney office, we have a steady progression of people visiting Sydney from mines as far away as Kenya, PNG and of course from all around Australia.
“Our doors are always open and we’re always ready to listen.”
The company also has staff scouting mines around the country on a regular basis for ideas, problems to be solved, and lessons to be learnt.
Further information on the Aussie Site Boss trash pump range is available from Australian Pump Industries’ website www.aussiepumps.com.au or Aussie’s mining partners throughout the country.