Abstract

During April 2008, De Beers commissioned a new diamond mine near Kroonstad South Africa, known as Voorspoed Mine. Water scarcity in the area required the use of paste thickeners at the end of the process to recover as much water as possible. An integrated approach was used to design the paste thickeners and slurry pipeline system that was needed to deliver as high a solids concentration as possible, while still using centrifugal pumps. This paper reviews the methods used between the paste thickener vendor (FLSmidth) and the slurry pipeline design company (Paterson & Cooke) to maximise the recovery of water from the paste thickeners. Findings on the project are shared in the following areas: test work; computer simulations; detailed design of the equipment and control systems; and commissioning of the plant.

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