Whittier Filtration, a Veolia Water Solutions and Technologies company, has been chosen to supply the Auto-Jet® precoat filtration and vacuum deaeration equipment packages for the expansion projects of Minera Penmont, a subsidiary of Industrias Peñoles in the Dipolos gold mine, and Mexico’s richest gold mine, Minera Mexican La Cienega, at La Cienega mine in Durango, Mexico. Whittier Filtration’s equipment package is expected to bring a 50% increase in production by the year 2010.
The scope of supply at Minera Penmont includes a 750m³/hr Auto-Jet precoat filtration and vacuum deaeration package while the Minera Mexican La Cienega includes a 400m³/hr precoat filtration and vacuum deaeration package. Auto-Jet is a self-cleaning leaf filter designed for filtration in severe applications. These packages are installed at these locations for clarification and deaeration of the pregnant leach solution in the Merrill-Crowe gold and silver process.
Whittier Filtration was able to build a custom vacuum package to fit the existing equipment as well as accommodate the high altitude, all while meeting a fast-track delivery.
Industrias Peñoles is a mining group with integrated operations in smelting and refining non-ferrous metals, and producing chemicals. Peñoles is the world’s top producer of refined silver, metallic bismuth and sodium sulfate, and the leading Latin American producer of refined gold, lead and zinc. The company’s reported annual sales for 2007 exceeded $4.0 billion.