CiDRA Minerals Processing Inc. announced today the successful installation of the largest SONARtrac system in Peru, the largest flowmeter in Peruvian mining. The 48" meter was installed on a reclaimed water line at Southern Copper’s Cuajone mine in the southern-most Andes Mountains of Peru with the cooperation of Cuajone’s team. Due to the large diameter of the pipe, there had not been a flowmeter installed on this line prior. Water resources in this area are scarce and highly regulated, and having an accurate flow measurement on this critical reclaimed water line will allow Cuajone better water balance accounting. To date, the meter is running very well and the client is satisfied with its performance. The system is required to measure water flow in one of the plant’s principal feed lines. With this installation, Cuajone becomes the fifth client in South America that has chosen SONARtrac technology for their large diameter water feed lines, mainly due to the growing need to monitor flow rates and thereby improve the water balance, in compliance with internal company regulations.
The recovered water comes from Cuajone’s four thickeners and flows to a reservoir near the concentrator plant. The water is then distributed for reuse in the concentrator plant through the water feed lines to mills and flotation. Six pumps work alternately, depending on the amount of water recovered, to feed the lines in accordance with process demands. The fundamental characteristic of being a non-intrusive system allowed the installation of the 48" SONARtrac flowmeter without having to stop the process or cut the pipe, which would have been required to install conventional flowmeter technologies. As a result, this is the first time that the client has a flow rate measurement on this 48" line.
CiDRA’s SONARtrac flow technology is a new class of industrial flowmeter, utilizing measurement principles that are distinct from all other flowmeter technologies operating in the mining industry. SONARtrac non-intrusive flow monitoring systems do not make contact with the fluid and can be removed and reinstalled without process interruption when it is necessary to replace the pipe. As well, SONARtrac systems demonstrate a very stable output in the presence of a variety of ores and demonstrate superior levels of performance. This passive, sonar-based technology enables measurements of single phase and multiphase fluids, as well as slurries, with the same level of accuracy and performance.