Leading copper-producing mine used piping systems from Viega
Kennecott UT Copper (KUC) is one of the largest copper mining operations in the world. With a history that dates back to 1903, the company is a leading producer of copper, gold, silver and molybdenum. Its Bingham Canyon mine in Utah, USA, has produced more copper than any other mine in history – 18.7 million tons.
Today, KUC is owned by the Rio Tinto Group, an international mining conglomerate that was established in 1873. Its headquarters are split between London, England and Melbourne, Australia. In addition to extracting copper ore from the earth, the KUC facility handles the crushing, concentrating and smelting of that ore. Furnaces and an acid solution are then used to remove impurities, resulting in 99.99 % pure copper.
Kennecott UT Copper (KUC) Viega
Ease of use und reliability
All of the activities require a lot of electricity, so KUC has its own power plant located 17 miles from the mine. In 2009, when KUC was looking to replace the black steel pipe at the power plant with stainless, Viega’s Sanpress Inox system (US standard) was chosen to eliminate the corrosion problems. The system’s efficiency, ease of use and reliability was appreciated, said Ken Pennell, the power plant’s maintenance planner at that time and has since been promoted to maintenance supervisor at KUC’s tailings and water services department.
Kennecott UT Copper (KUC) Viega
Sanpress Inox fittings and valves were also installed on the oil fill and drain piping for 32 cooling tower fan gearboxes and Viega Profipress (US standard) was used to connect copper tube on domestic water lines, replacing problem fittings. “We easily saved a week of time,” Pennell said, who used in-house staff for installation. “That’s about a 33% savings on labor.”
The following year the system was used again as the crew re-piped two more cooling towers during a shutdown. “We purchased another 400 feet of new stainless piping for the next two cooling towers,” said Pennell. “We expected it would take about three days to re-pipe both towers. But we started on Friday and finished up on Monday ahead of schedule.”
