IHC

A typical deep-sea mining system consists of:

1. Mining support platform or vessel;
2. Launch and recovery system;
3. Crawler with a mining head,
4. Centrifugal pump
5. Vertical transport system;
6. Electrical,

7. Control, instrumentation and visualization systems.

The remotely operated crawlers deliver the slurry via a modified cutting or suction head and
vertical transport system to a transportation vessel or processing plant on board the support
platform or vessel.
The technology essential for optimal production performance includes deep-sea excavation, soil
mechanics and hydraulic transport all of which fall under the specialty and expertise of IHC
Mining.

Case study
At the De Beers Marine diamond mining operation in Namibia, IHC Mining supplied a subsea crawler
mining system, a launch and recovery system, and a mining control system. They are all currently in
operation for marine mining in depths up to 150 metres.

OceanflORE
To further develop the deep-sea mining market, IHC has established a joint venture with
DEME, OceanflORE. This provides a total deep-sea mining solution for the extraction of deep-sea
minerals at fixed prices per unit.

From IHC Brochure

Mining Dredgers
High accuracy and a continuous rate of production ensure that cutter suction dredgers are ideal for
many mining jobs. They are specifically designed for the extraction of minerals from the bottom of
lakes or the ocean floor to supply separation plants. The submersible centrifugal pump allows the
extraction

of

minerals

and

metals

from

depths

of

100

metres

below

sea

level.

Mining support vessels

These have an adjusted design, higher specific weight and pre-processing equipment installations on
board to support the mining operation.

Excavation tools
The mining wheel has proved to be an excellent tool for heavy mineral miners and has been
developed for both cohesive and hard soils to deliver highly productive results.
Another concept specifically developed for mining is a bucket miner concept. This has the
advantages of a silent bucket chain, higher productivity and lower maintenance costs.
The Lancelot cutter head is used in loose compacted soil. It makes better use of the available
power, resulting in a higher output of mined materials thanks to its cylindrical shape and availability of
more arms. The drum cutter is specifically developed for harder soils and working in the deep sea
under hyperbaric conditions.

Centrifugal pumps
As the primary power source for transporting the mixture to the vessel or separation plant, IHC
Merwede is able to equip the mining installation with a complete range of centrifugal pumps. All of
these are available as inboard or submerged centrifugal pumps. Most of the latter are driven directly
by a submerged electric motor.

Slurry transport systems

IHC Merwede provides a range of high-performance floating discharge lines, rubber hoses and
ball joints to transport the slurry mixture to the mining vessels or plant. Floating discharge hoses are
required for slurry transport to the shore. Rubber hoses without buoyancy can be part of a floating
line arrangement, such as flexible land and vessel connection or with extra flexibility in the discharge
line. Ball joints provide a flexible load-bearing connection between sections of a pipeline.

IHC Jigs (Separation and Dewatering)

IHC Merwede designs and delivers either floating or land-based treatment plants to separate, for
instance, gold, lead, tin or diamonds from the mined mixture. A Jig separates minerals from slurry by
a difference in specific weight, using pulsating water displacement. The concentrate cone
underneath the Jig bed moves up and down in a saw tooth motion, creating a fast upward and
slow downward stroke. This causes a pulsating water flow from the cone through the Jig bed.

Mining crawlers
-NilLaunch-and-recovery systems
The company has produced systems with safe working loads of up to 250 tonnes, which will render
at 500 tonnes in dynamic conditions.

De Beers Marine diamond mining

Figure 1: De Beers Mining Concepts

Figure 2: MV Mafuta

Dee Beers acquired a crawler system operated from MV Ya Toivo in 2003 and the installed
centrifugal pump sizes up to 600 mm in diameter are used to depths of 150 m, and the installed pump
power on the Ya Toivo is 1 800 kW.
Track mounted subsea crawler, max working (within Pump specifications layout) 200 meter below sea
level. Central hydraulic subsea power pack, electrical driven by 500Kw subsea electric motor, tracks
hydraulically driven. Boom and knuckle with a maximum reach of 42 degrees sb/ps (net cleaning

width of 22 meters). Slurry transported by IHC dredge pump 2400 KW. A 500 KW/ 3.3 KV electrical
driven subsea jet water pump available. Crawler operated and controlled via fibre optics, sensors and
plc system, OD build for -500 m. Total weight of the crawler is 245 ton.

Figure 3: MV Ya Toivo

De Beers acquired a new crawler system in 2007 operated from the "MV Peace in Africa" (later
renamed "MV Mafuta") which is in continuous current operation. This system currently comprises of a
Crawler (286 Tonnes) powered by a single 700mm centrifugally pumped transport riser pipe.

Figure 4: MV Mafuta with Seabed Crawler

De Beers Marine operates in accordance with an ISO 14001-certified Environmental Management

System, and high safety standards and culture are vigorously promoted.

Figure 5: Seabed Crawler on MV Mafuta

The ship is about 170 metres in length with a depth of 15 metres and a breadth of 24 metres. The MV
Mafuta weighs approximately 16 000 tonnes.

Figure 6: Sea Bed Crawler

Figure 7: IHC pump used in De Beers Crawler

The installed pump power on the Peace in Africa is 2 400 kW and the diameter is 650 mm. These
3

pumping systems are capable of delivering up to 2 500 tph of solids, and over 9000 m /h of slurry.

Figure 8: Mining Path TTRL (Similar to De Beers)

Figure 9: Crawler Mining Schematic (TTRL)

Figure 10: Real Time Control of De Beers Crawler