Doré Plant

WCD4™ IMPROVES 400% WEAR LIFE

Background

ICodelco Chuquicamata is the largest open pit copper mine in the world, located in the north of Chile, just outside Calama. It began operations in 1952 and has copper reserves of 40 years.

The Challenge

Chuquicamata wanted to improve wear life and seal reliability in their pumps handling Anodic Slurry. There were using Alloy 20 with a wear life of six months. The Anodic slurry is a subproduct from the Copper Electrolytic Refinery and has content of precious materials as gold, silver and weak sulfuric acid. The combination of acid and solids were a challenge to mechanical seals.

The Solution

The Wilfley team suggested to use the WCD4™, Wilfley’s proprietary material that is chemically similar to ASTM A890, but with an average hardness of 345 Brinell. In addition, the Wilfley team suggested a Wilfley A9 pump with its Wilfley Waterless Seal System.

The Result

The pump was still in operation after two years of continuous operation and components were found in good condition and returned to service. Thanks to the Wilfley A9 and its material WCD4™ , Chuquicamata was able to reduce the maintenance shutdowns by extending the life of the pump.