Key points
- CRIMM’s ore-lifting pump and pipe system, part of an 863 Program deep-sea mining project, passed third-party verification on March 27.
- The laboratory test received an independent expert score of 98.97.
- The clog-free multi-stage centrifugal pump prototype was independently developed by CRIMM.
- The project’s ore-lifting pump and pipe sea trial was expected to begin in early June 2016.
On March 27, the laboratory test of the ore-lifting pump and pipe system under the national 863 Program project “Key Technologies and Equipment for the Mining and Transport of Deep-Sea Polymetallic Nodules and Cobalt-Rich Crusts”, undertaken by Changsha Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (CRIMM), successfully passed third-party verification. Scored independently by the members of the expert panel, the laboratory test received a score of 98.97. The third-party verification result shows that the pump and pipe transport system meets the requirements of the project task statement, marking a good interim achievement for the project and laying the foundation for the implementation of the sea trial to follow.
The project “Key Technologies and Equipment for the Mining and Transport of Deep-Sea Polymetallic Nodules and Cobalt-Rich Crusts” is a key technology in China’s deep-sea mining system. The clog-free multi-stage centrifugal pump engineering prototype independently developed by the company reaches the international level of its time, and can provide sound technical support and an equipment prototype for future mineral lifting in deep-sea mining. Building on the passed laboratory verification, the sea trial of the project’s ore-lifting pump and pipe system is expected to begin in early June 2016.
The deep-sea mining 863 high-technology research project is led by Changsha Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and jointly undertaken with leading domestic organizations including Central South University, the Changsha Institute of Mining Research, the Shenyang Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Shanghai Li-Ce Technology Co., Ltd. The implementation of this project is conducive to forming independently developed Chinese technology and equipment for the mineral transport module of deep-sea mining, while training and developing a cohort of researchers engaged in deep-sea mineral resources development.
