Weir Minerals to Release New Multiflo MH Highwall Pump

The Multiflo MH highwall pump is a superior highwall mine dewatering solution designed in response to customer feedback and comes on the back of major flooding disasters including the Queensland floods of 2011 and 2012.

WMM are highly active within the Queensland community, having recently undertaken a sponsorship of the North Mackay Devils and an educational program for prospective engineers at Sunshine Coast TAFE. WMM understand better than most the wider impacts of site flooding.

Paull Avey, Managing Director of WMM says, “We have really listened to our customers and developed a pump that we believe will better protect people, assets, jobs and the environment, and ultimately get sites up and running more quickly during times of flooding and other water-shed crises.”

According to the Queensland Resource Council, the state’s annual coal exports fell 40 million tonnes short of projections because of the 2011 floods, which meant a significant financial loss for the many mines directly impacted by the natural disaster, as well as to the economies of Queensland and Australia.

“With a flooded mine or quarry costing up to a million dollars a day in lost productivity, we believe the release of the Multiflo MH highwall pump will be extremely well received by customers because of the urgent need for a robust and reliable highwall mine dewatering solution.”

“The Multiflo MH highwall pump has new patent-pending features developed specifically in response to customer feedback. We are very proud of, and excited by, its capabilities, and believe it will have a positive impact on the economic and productivity outcomes of our mining customers,” says Avey.

The key unique features of the new Multiflo MH highwall pump include:

• Virtually no restrictions to the flow with a dedicated discharge pipe separate to the hydraulic cabling lines
• Self-centralising pipe guide head
• Booster option available (200 l/s @ 200m)
• Weir Minerals-designed heavy duty submersible slurry pump
• Hydraulically driven wheels on submersible pump head assembly to assist ascent and descent
• Legendary Multiflo product reliability and aftermarket support

Additional key features include:

• Custom engineered skid design comprising of nudge bars and 20mm Bisalloy sleigh ends to facilitate movability on site
• Maximum flow rate of 200 L/S at a maximum 100m head (single stage)
• Hydraulic fail safe override system in place
• Hydrau-Flo fuel valves as standard to ensure safe reliable filling
• In-built fuel and hydraulic cells with a separate dry test cell

The Multiflo MH highwall pump offers an environmentally friendly dual pipe system that separates hydraulic oil hoses from the dedicated discharge pipe, to reduce the risk of hydraulic oils contaminating discharge water.

The submersible pump head assembly includes hydraulic-driven wheels to aid highwall ascent and descent, and a heavy duty hydraulic-driven submersible pump designed by Weir Minerals to handle high concentrations of silt and solids.

Developed with the knowledge gained from WMM’s 34 years of experience in developing and installing dewatering solutions for complex water issues, the Multiflo MH highwall pump also features a modular design for ease of transport and assembly once onsite; uses joystick control of the hydraulic controls for easy operation; has an operator camera for in-pit visibility; and has been designed to ensure maximum flow rates of up to 200 litres per second at 90m head.

As the latest member of the Weir Minerals Multiflo pump portfolio, the Multiflo MH highwall pump includes ‘built to last’ features such as corrosion and wear resistant materials and heavy duty skids designed to ensure it withstands the harsh operating conditions of mine sites.

The Multiflo MH highwall pump units are currently in production and are set to officially launch in September 2012.