A local water treatment company has strengthened its international partnerships to provide optimum quality water treatment services to the mining sector in the country. Heat Exchange Products has been in partnership with Sud-Chemie for over nine years providing successful and effective water treatment solutions to various sectors. This partnership has now been enhanced with the recent acquisition of Sud-Chemie by Clariant International, a Swiss company, which is possibly the largest water treatment related supplier to mines in Africa.
Sud-Chemie/Clariant is currently represented on many mines throughout Africa and has a thorough understanding of the demands and challenges facing this market. The company has to date introduced a new ultrafiltration membrane technology at a new water treatment plant for African Minerals’ Tonkolili in Sierra Leone which is an alternative to traditional sand filtration.Further, the company installs water treatment plants as per the requirement of a mine, such as the water treatment solution for Paladin Energy’s Kayelekera mine in Malawi. Additionally the company is active in many other mines in South Africa, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo. All water management systems in Namibia are serviced by Heat Exchange Products through the provision of expertise advice, engineering equipment and all relevant chemical products in the following fields: cooling systems that require chemicals to combat corrosion, scale deposits and bacteriological proliferation (algae/bacterial growth); potable water-plants, making use of a water plant that comprises a combination of filtration, flocculation and disinfection; flocculation systems; disinfection chemicals, and chemicals to combat corrosion and scale deposition in boiler systems. Heat Exchange Products also take care of process water systems incorporating filtration, softening, demineralisation or reverse osmosis as well as “stripping-water plants”, producing clean water that does not block spray-nozzles. Finally, the company supplies sewage plants and provide solutions for AMD (acid mine drainage) that requires treatments from neutralisation of acids, flocculation, filtration, softening and demineralisation if needed.
Heat Exchange Products says it is well aware of the environmental challenges facing many mines. “Together with Clariant Mining Solutions, Heat Exchange Products strives to operate in a safe and respectful manner to the environment while efficiently producing and delivering a wide range of eco-friendly products,” the company said. The two encourage all levels of their organisations to integrate health, safety and remain environmentally conscious in their activities.
Additionally, they are constantly researching new avenues to provide alternatives to using traditional non-renewable resources. This has resulted in this local company embarking on various projects in renewable solar power in optimising outputs within the mining sector as well as other sectors in society, be it municipal, manufacturing, agriculture or fishing. Source: allAfrica.com
