Nord Minerals has again won the bid for the supply of a floating pump station for one of the largest concentration plants in Kazakhstan

The company was awarded a vendor contract for the floating pump station that will supply water to the state-of-the-art concentration plant with an annual output of 4.2 million of gold and copper ore to operate in the harsh continental climate (-45°C in winter to +45°C in summer).

During the bid, the professionals of Nord Minerals have demonstrated their high competence by providing a detailed design solution, which can fully satisfy the requirements of one of the most demanding customers in the industry.

As in previous projects of Nord Minerals for the supply of floating pump stations, we have utilized the best practices in process automation, power supply, and process monitoring built around Schneider Electric equipment using pontoon tightness sensors and dual-compartment pontoons to increase the reliability, a discharge line priming vacuum system, a security alarm and access control system, a fire alarm system.

The design includes several technical upgrades:

• 4 x 300 m3/h ROITECH horizontal reversible impeller pumps with 75 kW electric motors. The space-saving discharge line assembly integrated into the pontoon body was developed to reduce the size of the suction line within the pontoon platform.
• This is the first application of the sparging system. This system implies discharging positive temperature water into the ice free area around the pump station through the perforated pipes installed on the perimeter. This solution is the most energy efficient and will prove its performance in combination with the anti-freezing agitators.
• Cable lines on the gangway will be laid under the removable decking to avoid purchasing of cable supporting structures and posts, lower the center of gravity, and reduce the load on the pontoon platform, resulting in less structural steel and lower cost while ensuring easier and safe operation.
• The engineering department has introduced an electrical heat trace system for the pressure piping and discharge line sleeves, combined with the foiled PU thermal insulation.

Nord Minerals celebrates 5 years of cooperation with this client, where earlier interactions included the supply of ROITECH pump units and ELEMENT spare parts for Metso equipment.

The award of the floating pump station supply contract to Nord Minerals definitely proves the development of trusted partnership and acknowledgement of our company’s high competence and expertise in this area.