CASE STUDY

Metalliferous Mines Case Study

Rapp-it is suitable for repairs to various locations in concentrators on mine sites.

Scope

The customer’s concentrator throughput was approximately 25 million tonnes per annum, with four main outages per year at 12-week intervals. The biggest wear issues were in pipes throughout the concentrator, as the slurry was very abrasive. Although pipes were rubber-lined (and in some cases ceramic-lined for high-wear areas), occasional pipe failures occurred, with slurry leaking from a pipe’s bend, flange or valve body.

Solution

A range of repairs were completed with Rapp-it: 500mm slurry and coarse-material piping and valve-body leaks were sealed with Rapp-it Pipe Repair Bandages (100mm x 9m); 550mm tailings pipe leaks were wrapped with Linatex rubber and many rolls of Rapp-it (100mm x 3.6m); cyclone feed spool and coarse overflow spool repairs used Rapp-it (50mm x 3.6m); and many airline pin-hole leaks were sealed early with the smaller Rapp-it (50mm x 3.6m). Rapp-it set as hard as a rock and stopped the leaks, withstanding coarse slurry and materials long enough to enable planning for the right permanent replacement.

“Rapp-it has been around for many years. I have worked in mining for 28 years and used it at every mine I’ve worked at across Western Australia, New South Wales and South Australia. Equipment wrapped with Rapp-it can be safely removed from service and a longer-term replacement executed without impacting production.”

Maintenance Superintendent, NSW

Technical Details

Application
Concentrator pipework — slurry, tailings, cyclone feed, airlines

Pipe Contents
Abrasive slurry / coarse material

Temperature
7°C – 15°C

Pipe Diameter
Up to 550mm

Throughput
~25 million TPA