Weir Minerals has secured a £8.6 million (€11 million) contract to supply pumps for a new 200km-long pipeline project in Morocco which will transport phosphate rock from inland mines at Khouribga to the coastal port of Jorf Lasfar for processing and shipping.
Weir Minerals has secured a £8.6 million (€11 million) contract to supply pumps for a new 200km-long pipeline project in Morocco which will transport phosphate rock from inland mines at Khouribga to the coastal port of Jorf Lasfar for processing and shipping.
The company was selected by Turkey-based contractor Tekfen, which is carrying out the project for Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP), the state-owned Moroccan phosphates company.
OCP exports around £2.85 billion (€3.6 billion) of phosphate rock and derivative products each year, approximately 25% of the country’s total exports.
The centrifugal Warman high-pressure pumps Weir Minerals is supplying are specifically designed for use in series transporting applications and will be deployed at three pumping stations along the pipeline’s route.
Several 500 U-HTPP high-pressure transport pumps will be positioned in series at the start of the route and these pumps are fed by booster stations, with additional 12/10 T-AHPP pumps, also positioned in series. Weir Minerals will supply standby pumps.
The pipeline , scheduled to begin operating in 2013, will replace OCP’s current railway freight transportation method and will allow the mine’s output to be significantly increased.
The phosphate rock produced by OCP is used in large quantities by industry around the world to produce fertilisers and as an agent in many chemical processes.
John Davies, sales and marketing director at Weir Minerals, said: “This is a significant project as it will be one of the longest phosphate slurry transport pipelines ever constructed, with the majority of the distance having a diameter of over 91cm.
“While this is the first contract we have delivered for Tekfen, Weir Minerals is a long-standing supplier for OCP and Warman pumps are used extensively across its operations.
“This project will result in substantial investment by Weir Minerals in Morocco to support the project itself and its end users.”
The Weir Minerals team in Turkey which secured the contract has achieved significant sales growth across the country and further afield in recent years and a new service centre will soon be launched to support the company’s expanding regional client base.
