[SEL] Schule & Co pump unit/now Mining and O.T.

[Jerry Evans]

At 07:00 PM 06/11/2009, you wrote:
>Message: 4
>Date: Fri, 6 Nov 2009 09:43:18 +1100
>From: "Kerry" <ozengine at optusnet.com.au>
>Subject: Re: [SEL] F W Schule & Co pump unit
><snip>
>G'Day Tom
>No idea of the pressure, the last owner that used the pump in a sand mine
>said it would send a full bore 2 3/4" of water 50 yds and blast down the
>sand wall.
>
>Roland (exlist member) on an English list suggested it was a trench pump
>from WW1
>
>Anyway a good find as it was going to the dump if I did not want it
>
>Kerry

Hi Kerry,
         Not too much to do with your find but that system of using it in a 
sand mine is very similar to what is happening here with regards to 
"clearing" all the old "gold mine dumps" from Johannesburg's (and South 
Africa's) gold mining past. Albeit, the pump capacity is much bigger.

         For those who do not know what a gold "mine dump" looks like and 
are interested I've put pics here (Black and White taken in the early 1950's):
<http://www.oldengine.org/members/evans/temp/minedumps1.jpg> (53 KBytes) 
(The dumps are those white man made mountains in the middle background)
<http://www.oldengine.org/members/evans/temp/minedumps2.jpg> (107 KBytes) 
An aerial view of the same dumps. To give you an example of the size, that 
rectangular building just below the road (centre of pic) is the "Kaserne 
Goods Shed" belonging to the South African Railways and it covers 13 1/2 
acres under roof.

         These "mine dumps' are scattered over an area stretching for quite 
a few hundred miles and are/were real eyesores. In the 1970's a decision 
was made to "re-mine" them and, at the same time, rehabilitate, the space 
they occupied. (That was in the "Old South Africa"). The old method of 
removing gold was not as efficient as modern methods and there is still a 
lot of gold in "them thar hills".

         It's an interesting process (but "off topic") but, what the heck, 
I'll explain one of the methods to the best of my limited ability!.

         A large area (a few acres) is covered with cheap black 
polyethylene sheeting (similar to what is used under new houses as damp 
proofing). This is placed on a slight slope - you will see why soon.

          Then, the sand is removed from the mine dumps in various ways - 
one of them being using water jets to turn it into a "pumpable" liquid 
(like your pump does) and stacked on this sheeting. This "stack" can end up 
many metres deep (20 or 30).

         Thereafter, an irrigation system is installed on the "stack" 
(exactly the same as a farm irrigation system but with much higher volumes).

         The "stack/hill/mountain whatever" is then irrigated with a 
cyanide solution (gold dissolves in cyanide).(Safety Officers - don't ask 
me !). This liquid cyanide solution then dissolves the gold left in the old 
mine dump sand (leeches it) and the resulting solution then gravitates to 
the bottom of the dump, until it reaches the aforementioned layer of "cheap 
black polyethylene sheeting" and runs off into a furrow. The resulting 
solution/liquid is then channeled into a refining plant which recovers the 
dissolved gold.

         Apologies for the very basic explanation. If I was a "chemical 
engineer" I could "bore" you guys with more explanations !!! (but, I'm not).



Keep the revs up (or down)
Jerry Evans
Near Johannesburg in Sunny South Africa.
Etched Brass Engine Plates made to order:
<www.oldengine.org/members/evans/plates/index.htm>