Preventing a major leakage at a prominent Australian mine

At Advanced Piping Systems, we’ve been proudly supplying Australia’s mining industry for more than 20 years. 

In 2018, a main water line at one of Australia’s most prominent mines began to rust, causing minor leaks. Preventing a major leakage was a real challenge.

Matthew Gooden, Advanced Piping Systems’ QLD Business Development Manager, was called upon to facilitate the replacement of a section of the main 600NB steel water pipe line, feeding water into the processing plant.

Preventing a major leakage-how did we do it?

“The mine uses a lot of water to crush and process all the materials, throughout the whole system,” said Matthew.

“The main water line was made of steel, and had many leaks due to internal corrosion from the hard water supply.” 

It was essential that the section was switched out before it rusted out.

“As a fairly significant pipeline, they didn’t want to close it down for longer than required – or worse, unexpectedly,” he said.  

Matthew and the Advanced Piping Systems team developed a solution with HDPE pipe to replace the section. HDPE pipe was chosen due to its non-corrosive and rust free properties, as well as its long lifespan.

Advanced Piping Systems supplied the mine with 630mm PE100 White Coex Pipe and Sweep Bends, Stub Flanges and Backing Rings, all fabricated as per their requirements. 

“Most of these products are fairly standard fittings, which was important as we were matching to their existing pipe,” said Matthew. 

“In addition, temperatures can soar up to 45 degrees in summer. White coex pipe was perfect for this job, as it has about 55 per cent less heat absorption, so it’s subjected to less expansion and movement.”   

In order to deliver the pipe to the mine in the most time-efficient manner, the section of pipe was fabricated in the Advanced Piping Systems workshop, before being transported onsite. 

As a fully-flanged prefabricated solution, all the components were able to be bolted together quickly upon arrival.

“Prefab was selected as it allows them to save all-important time on site, reduce risk, without the need to call in contractors. Overall, it helps to keep costs down too,” said Matthew.

Thanks to Advanced Piping Systems’ on-time delivery and installation, the mine was able to prevent a major failure on the 630mm water line.

However, Advanced Piping Systems’ aren’t just called in at times of need, explains Matthew. 

“We regularly supply day-to-day maintenance needs, urgent requirements for shutdown replacement spools plus major projects. 

“Over 20 years’, we’ve become a preferred supplier for this mine due to our excellent fabrication quality, secure packaging that avoids damage in transit, and ability to deliver the pipe on-time, and on-budget.”