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RAPAPORT... De Beers Canada's Victor diamond mine completed its first year of cleansing equipment oil through the kidney looping process to reduce waste and costs as part of the company's sustainability goals. The operations team cleanses hydraulic oil from its 50- and 100-tonne haul trucks through the kidney looping process, which works in a similar fashion to dialysis machines on nonfunctioning human kidneys.
The process removes water and particles from the oil to extend its use life and reduce overall consumption, allowing the operations department to run more efficiently. Victor mine's operations no longer ship waste oil off site and any remaining oil waste is now used in burners as a heat source. De Beers reduced hydraulic fuel use by nearly 20 percent in 2013, representing an estimated savings of 24,000 liters of fuel for production equipment alone.
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