Project Description
Cobre Panama is one of the largest open-pit copper mines in the world. This complex has 33,600 Acres including the Copper Mine, the Processing Plant, the Power Plant and the International Port of Punta Rincon. It is located 75 miles to the West of Panama City and 12 miles away from the Caribbean Sea coast, in Donoso District, Colon Province, Panama.
The problem
The challenge was to access, with a submersible slurry pump, the sediments contained in different bodies of water and slurries with different concentration of solids, some of them with low water content. The solution should be a dredge able to move on dry land and swampy areas, and capable to float and navigate on deep water.
Our solution
Dragflow proposed the multipurpose Amphibious Dredge model DRM85/180B equipped with a very robust Hydraulic Slurry Pump HY85/180, and two high torque Cutter Heads EXHY20 that will disaggregate and lift the sediments to the suction of the pump. This unit delivers a slurry with high content of solids at a rate of 2,024 US gpm for an approx. production of 496 ton/h of solids; and is equipped with an optional Cutter Knife for organic materials, roots, thin branches or weed that otherwise may obstruct the strainer during operation.
The DRM85/180B Amphibious Dredge will be working initially pumping Mill Runoff sediments from different Sedimentation Ponds and sending them to a Waste Dump.
Other application where the Amphibious DRM Dragflow multipurpose dredge will be used in Cobre Panama is on the Tailings Pond, for relocation and for reclamation.
As a second stage of this project, a Dragflow Booster Pump will be connected at the discharge of the amphibious dredge to deliver slurry at a further distance.
