The Benefits of Oil Skimming in the Mining Industry

     

Mining Equipment Wash A steady flow of technological innovations in electronics, construction, healthcare and other fields is driving the resurgence of copper mining throughout the world. In Peru alone, copper production jumped nine percent in the first three months of 2014.* Industry observers predict that the demand for copper will continue to grow at a fast clip for at least the next five years.

Along with the boom comes an increased need for effective water management and effectively removing oil from that water.  No matter the origin of the water – surface, ground, interstitial, mining process or equipment washdown – floating lubricants and hydraulic fluids must be removed.

Effluent, leachate, mill water and mine drainage water pose no problem for the Oil Skimmers Inc. Model 6V’s free-floating collector tube that circulates unimpeded by debris.

Installing a continuous oil skimming solution at a pit or tailings pond is a simple solution to this problem, one that has significant benefits. Here are just a few of them:

  • Removing oil from the water before it is discharged or treated further prior to discharging helps extend the life of filtration equipment by preventing clogged filters and build-up in separators.
  • Continuous, unattended skimming allows the foreman to assign manpower to more crucial tasks. Why should your oil removal solution introduce more labor hours?
  • The tube-type skimmer’s uncomplicated design has few moving parts and therefore, requires very little maintenance over its long life. Aside from the plastic collector tube, no moving parts are submerged.
  • Some of our tube-type oil skimmers have been operating as many as 25-30 years. Whether installed at an underground or above ground pit or integrated into an existing water-oil separator system, our tube-type skimmer can be custom mounted to fit the situation.

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*Source: Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mining

 

Topics: equipment washdown mining model 6v wastewater

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