GIW Pump Long-Lived Wet Ends Cut Downtime in Half at Alaska Gold Mine

A GIW Industries MDX slurry pump has nearly doubled the wear life of its wet ends which has cut maintenance downtime in half at the Kinross Fort Knox mine in Fairbanks Alaska.

Located within the Fairbanks mining district — one of the largest gold-producing areas in Alaska — the Kinross mine at Fort Knox operates year round seven days a week processing high-grade ore at a daily capacity of 45000 tons per day. As a result the Fort Knox mill requires its pumps to be up and running reliably.

However maintenance required on its previous slurry pumps meant stopping a portion of the production process for up to half a shift.

GIW’s MDX slurry pumps have two critical improvements that extend the service life of the pump:

• Lower specific speed: A large-diameter impeller allows for slower pump operation that extends wet-end parts wear life even under variable flow conditions.

• Slurry diverter: This GIW-exclusive technology increases suction liner life by reducing particle recirculation between the impeller and liner.
These features combine to significantly extend the average service life of the pump while processing the same amount of ore.

In addition the MDX’s adjustable suction liner simplifies the process of making routine adjustments that are critical for extending pump service life.

“In the old days making critical adjustments meant taking the pump out of service and customers simply don’t have the time or the personnel to do that anymore” said Ben Altman northern regional sales manager of GIW. “Perhaps the most exciting feature of the MDX pump is the adjustable suction liner. Customers actually look forward to making adjustments with this pump because it’s so easy to do.”

Pump adjustments can now be done without taking the pump out of operation. Fewer unscheduled outages and increased uptime has translated into more efficient production and greater profits.