It’s hard work being a champion. The drive, the dedication, the discipline — combine all of those qualities with the ability to address mining challenges with creative strategies, and you get the recipe for a Slurry Champion.

Recently, four men from four different parts of the world discovered they had what it takes to truly be leaders in both slurry innovation and the mining industry.

Slurry Champion program

Always at the forefront of mining and slurry education, GIW’s management saw a need to improve communication with subsidiaries in several countries where we do business. The answer was to develop a training program that would help reach that goal.

“We identified five countries we wanted to establish better communication with,” says Reab Berry, GIW’s resident slurry pump expert. “We invited one person from each country to complete both online coursework and hands-on training at the Grovetown facility. It would require a major commitment from those individuals.” Ideally, says Berry, each Slurry Champion would take his newly acquired knowledge and creatively apply it in his own country, improving the understanding of mining techniques worldwide.

This was an “all or nothing” program: Participants were required to participate in all aspects of the program, no picking and choosing. The Managing Directors of four KSB locations accepted the challenge and nominated Anthony Klein of KSB Australia, Jardel Ribero of KSB Brazil, Patricio Araya of KSB Chile, and Iqbal Javi of KSB Indonesia, to participate in this first-of-its-kind program. To be nominated, each participant had to meet several challenging requirements and prerequisites:

• Fluent in both English and native language (written and spoken)
• Highly knowledgeable about the KSB organization products
• Highly knowledgeable about the mining industry
• Willing to make a long-term commitment
• Energetic self-starter
• Good presenter
• Metcom Minerals Processing Training Course (60+ hours)
• FIPR Institute Basic Slurry Pumping Course (5+ hours)

After meeting these requirements and being nominated by their country’s KSB Managing Director, these men were admitted into the Slurry Champion program.

This is where the really hard work started. After completing 65+ hours of web-based training, the program participants attended three 4-week sessions in Grovetown over the course of a year. During these visits, they received extensive training from GIW experts and instructors in all aspects of the slurry business, both technical and organizational:

• Engineering Technical Training – 6 days
• Slurry Pump Maintenance Course – 3 days
• Hydraulic Lab Testing – 1 day
• “Transportation of Solids Using Centrifugal Pumps” Course – 5 days
• Manufacturing Orientation – 5 days
• Scheduling and Supply Chain Orientation – 5 days
• Manufacturing Engineering and Quality Control Orientation – 4 days
• Field Sales and Service Orientation – 4 days
• Trade Show Training + Field Trip to a Copper Mine – 5 days
• GIW Products Training – 5 days
• Quotations and Project Management Orientation – 6 days
• “Train the Trainer” Course – 3 days

Individual benefits

Obviously, the men who participated in the Slurry Champion program walked away with many benefits. The experience of working with other mining professionals from other parts of the world offered insights impossible to gain in any other way.

They also developed strong relationships with each other and with colleagues at the GIW home office. The Champions are already planning to visit Patricio Araya in Chile to learn about the use of slurry transport in copper mines.

These benefits are in addition to the extensive mining knowledge and experience gained through the coursework and hands-on training.

“They did a wonderful job. Not only did they work eight hour days at GIW, they maintained their work load at their home offices while suffering the absence from their families. They are to be commended.” Berry says.

Next steps

Since this is the first training of its kind, GIW is taking a wait-and-see approach to judging the outcomes of the project.

“We’ll probably see how it goes for the next few years before we set up another program,” Berry says.

In the meantime, GIW has high hopes for this first class of Slurry Champions. The potential for incorporating cutting-edge slurry techniques and technology in countries all over the world is exciting. And the collaboration between these first four participants offers fresh opportunities for creative solutions to mining challenges.

“One of the next steps is for them to meet every year, and also come back here for a week every year, on an individual basis, to refresh themselves and get additional training,” Berry says.

With their upcoming trip to Chile, it certainly seems that the 2015 Slurry Champions are starting on the right foot. Congratulations, and good luck!