A copper mine in South America

The Client

A copper mine in South America operates open-pit mines and a concentrator across the Americas. This case covers its primary grinding circuit, where mill-discharge is one of the most aggressive wear points in the concentrator.

Pump Model	Pump 650
Application	Primary Grinding Mill Discharge
Part Addressed	Throatbush (premature perforation wear)

Pain Point — Premature Throatbush Failure

On the Pump 650 primary grinding mill discharge, the throatbush was reaching end-of-life considerably earlier than the rest of the wet end.

• Throatbush service life: only 1,800 – 2,200 hours.
• Surrounding wet-end parts (volute liner, frame plate liner, cover plate liner): 3,000 – 3,500 hours.

Recurring perforation wear on the throatbush forced unscheduled shutdowns, wasted material that was still serviceable on the adjacent parts, and shortened the maintenance window available to the plant.

Solution — Duramic™ Composite Throatbush

Working with the maintenance team, we developed an upgraded throatbush using our Duramic™ composite formulation — a wear-resistant compound tuned for the high-impact, high-solids mill-discharge environment. The geometry and outside dimensions are kept identical to the original part, so the upgrade drops into the existing Pump 650 without any change to pipework, shaft or assembly clearances.

• Higher wear resistance under direct mill-discharge impact.
• Dimensional compatibility retained with the original Pump 650 throatbush — no field modification required.
• Service interval brought into line with the rest of the wet end, so the complete set can now be replaced as one planned event.

Result

After the upgrade, the throatbush now reaches end-of-service at the same time as the rest of the wet end. The complete wet-end set is replaced as a single planned maintenance event instead of being interrupted by an early throatbush failure.

Metric	Before (original)	After (Duramic™)
Throatbush service life	1,800 – 2,200 h	up to 3,500 h
Surrounding wet-end life	3,000 – 3,500 h	3,000 – 3,500 h
Maintenance pattern	Unscheduled throatbush change-outs	Planned single-event wet-end replacement

Engagement Continues

the client continues to source the Duramic™ throatbush on a routine cycle, alongside wear parts for the other pumps in its grinding circuit. Repeat orders are scheduled against the plant's maintenance calendar, with a small buffer stock held for the highest-turnover items.