Inoxihp will supply Whitehaven’s Narrabri mine in the Gunnedah Basin with pumps that are a combination of single and dual Inoxihp Quintuplex PM330 type units providing high-flow emulsion, high-pressure set and boosted water services to the face.

“This job is a milestone for us, being the first order on Inoxihp placed by Bucyrus for a single pump station, filtration, dump valve and automatic delivery system decompression installation,” Inoxihp Mining Australia managing director Tim Leeson told International Longwall News.

The Narrabri order will feature dump valves with Tiefenbach units, similar to units recently supplied to the Crinum mine and Carborough Downs. Leeson said the filtration was typically Pall throw-away element style units.

“The pump station will have a very high degree of operator safety. Features include zero exposure to high-pressure interfaces, such as isolating valves and hose and pipe connections. This includes ensuring passing pedestrian traffic for cut-through inspections and others are safe from high-pressure outburst by employing a strategy of full guards and covers as well as remote access to isolators and connections.

“There is a comprehensive decompression regime that includes both manual and automatic methods to decay pressure in all the onboard systems with display panels that allow operators to determine the status of all at a glance.”

Leeson also pointed out that the units would have low operator noise exposure due to low-noise/high-efficiency cooling systems and sound-proof panels.

“We expect to achieve levels that allow full 12-hour shift coverage without use of ear defenders.”

Narrabri will be serviced from Inoxihp’s new service centre, which has been added to its Mt Thorley workshop.

The centre will support two new service engineers, a service administrator and technical author for supporting data production.

So far this year, Inoxihp has made deliveries to Vale’s Carborough Downs mine in April, BMA’s Broadmeadow mine in June, and Xstrata’s Blakefield South and Baal Bone mines in July.

The first Blakefield South unit was delivered last month, with a second unit due this month.

According to Leeson, sales have doubled every year since 2002, even during the hard times of 2008-09.

“With our growing domestic market and enquiries from USA and China, we expect to see an increase in sales here and particularly overseas through this next financial year,” he said.

The success has been reflected in the company’s management restructure as it copes with expanding orders and a growing workforce, with its permanent employees swelling from 11 to 23 in 2008 and split between the New South Wales workshop and the headquarters in Queensland.

While Leeson moved into the managing director role, John Mullin has become executive chairman. Vernon Brown was promoted to general manager while Stuart Ware is now service and sales manager.

Inoxihp has also appointed former Bucyrus quality assurance manager Neil Bennett to help the company achieve ISO9001 by 2011.

The company has also experienced success overseas with its first export to Poland.

The export deal was secured in the wake of Inoxihp Australia’s worldwide distribution agreement with original equipment manufacturer Inoxihp Srl in Milan, Italy.

The Poland order was placed and processed in Australia with the pumps manufactured in Italy and the control systems manufactured in Australia. The pumps were supplied with a shortwall of Tagor roof supports to the Polish mine in May.