Submersible Dewatering Pumps
Better Pump Performance,
PumpEng specialises in tough submersible pumps for use in mining, construction and industrial dewatering. We have submersible pumps that can manage tramp, shotcrete fibre, slurry, dirty water and high-head requirements.
What Industry Professionals Say
Quality
Workmanship
“We are a nickel mine so we are hard on our pumps and these do the job.”
W.A Nickel Mine
Access Knowledge & Experience
"support team have bent over backwards to accommodate whatever we need."
WA Nickel Mine
“Importantly I've had a higher usage rate from the pumps which meant less downtime.”
Agnew Gold
“Performance is sensational."
Underground Gold Mine
“They're always very open and honest. There's no secrets or anything like that. It's straight down the line and what you see is what you get.”
WA Underground Gold Mine
Recent News
Dewatering Pump Part Compatibility, Quality & Service
Sunrise Dam is a West Australian gold mine owned by AngloGold Ashanti. PumpEng has supplied dewatering pumps and parts to this site over several years. In this site report, we speak with a representative of the Stores section about that experience and why some parts that may appear the same can perform very differently in…
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Mining Dewatering Pumps For Salty Water & Harsh Conditions
Grant Kemp is the Mining – General Foreman for Mining SXO Underground Operations at Minjar Gold Pty Ltd which is part of their Southern Cross Operations. In this interview, he discusses using PumpEng Raptor and MetalVest submersible pumps for their underground mine dewatering where managing water volume and extreme salinity were a challenge. Large Water…
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Lithium Processing Plant Uses ScatPumps to Reduce Pump Maintenance
Stewart Bailey is the Area Manager – Process Infrastructure for Altura. The company is on track for the commissioning of its lithium processing plant in the Pilbara. In this interview, Stewart discusses deploying the ScatPump slurry submersible pumps to replace existing pumps that were struggling to handle the operating conditions. Can you describe your operation?…
Read MoreJetGuard: The Submersible Pump Designed for use with Shotcrete Fiber
Shotcrete Has Changed The Rules for Underground Mining
Most of the world's underground mines use Shotcrete to reinforce the walls of new tunnels. The use of fast drying concrete makes the tunnels more stable, delivering safety and other benefits.
Shotcrete used in underground mining is frequently reinforced with small fiber to strengthen it.
The Shotcrete fibers can subsequently fall from the walls and mix with waste water.
The use of Shotcrete fiber has delivered major benefits for underground mining companies.
And it has also delivered some big, unintended consequences for dewatering operations.
How Shotcrete Fiber Can Cause Pumps to Fail
This picture shows a submersible pump where the impeller has failed due to Shotcrete fiber.
As water is pumped out of the mine, Shotcrete fiber is drawn into dewatering pumps and clogs them up.
Dewatering pump breakdown caused by Shotcrete delays mining production all over the world every day.
The Impact of Shotcrete Fiber on Mining Operations
When dewatering pumps are critical infrastructure, an entire mine can be forced to shut down because of dewatering pump failure driven by Shotcrete fiber.
The pump shown here was designed before Shotcrete was even invented. It wasn't designed for today's conditions.
The pump itself might have been located in a part of the mine that is difficult to access. This can make it hard to detect when a problem has occurred, and there are often substantial costs and risks associated with retrieving and repairing the pump to restore dewatering operations.
The Cost of Pump Failure
For many underground miners, Shotcrete fiber represents a major cause of pump failure and production delay.
And what is is the real cost of pump failure for a mining operation?
A multi-million dollar mining operation can be brought to a standstill because of one dewatering pump failure. The cost of the failure is not just measured by the cost of the replacement pump, but by the total lost production as well.
But production delays like this could be avoided if dewatering pumps are selected that have been designed for modern mining conditions.
The choice of a tougher pump can also reduce workplace hazards and boost efficiency.
JetGuard® by PumpEng
Designed To Handle Shotcrete Fiber
JetGuard® is an underground submersible dewatering pump designed for the challenges of underground mining.
PumpEng designed and built JetGuard to help tackle all kinds of tramp encountered in underground mining. And in particular one of the biggest causes of failure for submersible pumps in mining - Shotcrete fiber.
JetGuard is Protected
JetGuard has a defence-in-depth design to protect the pump from Shotcrete fibre.
Blocking Fiber From Getting Into the Pump
JetGuard is designed to block fiber from entering the pump.
JetGuard's patented design uses a hydraulic curtain to spray a curtain of water at the base of the pump.
In addition, JetGuard uses a bottom-mounted suction strainer, in contrast to older pump designs that use side-mounted suction strainers.
A lot of shotcrete fibers float on the surface of a body of water. The combination of the hydraulic curtain and bottom-mounted suction strainer blocks many of the surface fibres that may otherwise get into the internal workings of the pump.
JetGuard is Tough
JetGuard has been built to be tough enough to withstand shotcrete fibre for longer.
Managing Fiber That Gets Into the Pump
While JetGuard protects the pump from fiber, a reduced amount of fiber will still enter the pump.
JetGuard uses tough steel for internal components, avoiding lower-cost polyurethane and other plastic-based materials. Fiber chews up plastic, while it has far less impact on steel.
The JetGuard design incorporates a specially designed internal cutter plate. Any fibre that does get into the pump is chopped into small pieces to minimise impact.This reduces wear and tear on the pump, and allows for a clearer flow.
JetGuard is Productive
JetGuard is a new breed of submersible pump designed to keep running when other pumps fail.
Reduce Mining Production Downtime
What is the true cost when a submersible dewatering pump fails and causes mining operations to stop?
Think about it ... a multi-million dollar mining operation brought to a standstill because a single dewatering pump fails! Increasingly, the root cause of that pump failure is Shotcrete fiber.
Production delays like this can be avoided if the dewatering pumps you use are tough enough to handle modern mining conditions.
Tougher pumps can also help reduce workplace hazards and boost your efficiency.
It is true that the upfront cost of a JetGuard pump is slightly more than its low-cost competitors. But when measured on total cost of ownership, JetGuard truly shines.
Let JetGuard help tackle one of the biggest causes of failure for submersible pumps in mining - Shotcrete fibre.
