This project is located at a copper mine close to the beautiful Monument Valley. Copper mining has been a quintessential part of the west, it being one of the most sought-after metals in the recent years of technological innovation.
The mining methodology itself has gone through its own innovation. The traditional ways of open-pit and underground mining is highly efficient and profitable; however, it is invasive to the land. The initial investment and long period of time before production can begin as well as the cost of the machinery and equipment required to operate an open pit mine is astronomical.
In-Situ Recovery (ISR), also known as Solution Mining is a viable option which involves leaving the ore where it is in the ground. The minerals are recovered by dissolving them and pumping the pregnant solution to the surface where the minerals can be recovered. Consequently, there is little surface disturbance and no tailings or waste rock generated. It is an efficient and clean way of mining copper.
This copper mine is sitting on a large copper reserve that spans several acres across this region. Dozens of wells are being drilled to take full advantage of the ISR mining method.
During the initial trials, the mine came across issues with the water quality at the site with corrosion destroying the drop pipes. Life expectancy of these steel pipes is less than 3 years while pieces of corroding pipe trickle down to the check valve, clogging the entire system altogether. Pumps are pulled at least once a year for servicing.
The mine needed an intelligent, long-term solution. Stainless steel is an option, but it is difficulty to handle and, unsafe to work with and expensive.
Boreline FlexiRiser on the other hand, is a complete solution. The Boreline is totally corrosion resistant and due to its flexibility, no internal scaling ever takes place. This ensures a very efficient pumping system that remains true from day one.
Boreline FlexiRiser is also available in one, continuous length, making it easy to install and retrieve pumps for maintenance and well rehab.
For this installation, a 75Hp pump and motor were installed on 800ft of the 2.5” Boreline FlexiRiser.
The Boreline FlexiRiser is designed to carry the weight of the pump and motor, the hose and power cable and the water itself, which in this case is about 2,000lbs.
Another key advantage of this project was that the customer used the FlexiRiser Pump Puller. This is a trailer-mounted, hydraulically driven powered reel system that can install and retrieve the pump on Boreline, AT THE PUSH OF A BUTTON!!
The 800ft of Boreline FlexiRiser hose was rolled onto the FlexiRiser Pump Puller and was towed to site with ease with a pickup truck. The pump and motor were connected to the Boreline, and the power cable spliced to the motor.
The pump and motor were lowered into the well and the Pump Puller takes the weight. The pump is now lowered with the Pump Puller
Cable Straps are used to support the power cable along the entire length. The process of attaching the power cable only needs to be done once as next time the pump gets pulled for servicing or well maintenance, there is no need to disconnect the power cable. The Pump Puller simply pulls everything up and rolls it onto the drum.
After a couple of hours, the pump was installed and the well tested. Production increased to 150 GPM, approximately 20 GPM more than expected!
BUT WAIT, there’s more! They still had another well to install that day, this time, a 400ft length of 1.5” Boreline FlexiRiser.
This length of Boreline FlexiRiser was transported using the same pickup truck that pulled the FlexiRiser Pump Puller to site. This length was rolled from the truck onto the Pump Puller.
As soon as this length was loaded, the process of installing the pump was repeated.
- Connect the pump and motor to the end of the Boreline FlexiRiser.
- Splice the motor to the power cable.
- Lower the pump into the well
- Strap the power cable to the Boreline FlexiRiser every 6ft
This installation took a little over an hour and the water was pumping soon after.
The day was over, and we could leave site happy and excited that two installs were done in the same day.
We were just in time to enjoy the beautiful sunset as we drove back across the amazing Monument Valley.