McCloskey International’s crushing and track stacking equipment is playing a crucial role in the continued success of a French family quarrying business. Guy Woodford reports
Run by brothers’ Jean-Christophe and Stephane Semonsat, Semonsat Fils is the most recently established firm within their family’s impressive quarrying industry history dating back to the 1950s.
Operating three granite quarries near Vichy, central France, the company produces red, pink or grey-coloured aggregate grades of 0-8mm, 0-31.5mm, 8-150mm, and 31-150mm, with the grade and colour of the final material depending on whether it’s for roads (grey), pavements (red or pink), or other uses.
While their customers enjoy great final aggregate product choice, Semonsat Fils own choice in 2013 to purchase a trio of
“They are very good products,” says Jean-Christophe. “They’re easy to use which is of big importance as there’s not one specific person using one specific machine across our three quarries. They are also easy to transport. I’ve also been impressed with the models’ really fast set up.”
Of the TS4065 Track Stacker, in particular, he adds: “It’s really cost saving. Having a stacker cuts down on operation costs, including fuel and wear part replacement costs associated with having to use a truck to create a stockpile of material. You also don’t have to pay for a truck operator.”
Around 350,000tonnes/year of granite is quarried across Semonsat Fils’ Saint Antonie, Champs de Flanches, and De Rouzat quarry sites. The J50 jaw crusher, C38 cone crusher and the TS4065 Track Stacker are used at all three of the firm’s quarries. Ably working alongside the McCloskey equipment range are
“The working hours of the machines varies depending on what work we have on. They could work 5am to 10pm and weekends as well if necessary,” says Jean-Christophe.
Semonsat Fils purchased their McCloskey International models from Groupe Garonne, McCloskey International’s dealers for southern and parts of central France.
“The back-up service we get is good,” adds Jean-Christophe. “If we need information, we call Group Garonne.
We have now known each other for over a year-and-a-half and the relationship is good. With other sales guys you buy their machine and they do not call you again as they think you’re not going to buy another from them. We appreciate the personal touch of Groupe Garonne.”
Christophe Castaldo, of Group Garonne, says: “We look to be the best on service. We are available at all time and we get a lot of clients that way. We study customer needs and the end purpose of a machine.
For Semonsat Fils we did demos of J40 and J50 jaw crushers before they ordered a J50. I think that here you can see the benefits of having good service.”
All drilling and blasting at Semonsat Fils’ quarries is contracted out to a local firm. For smaller customer specified granite grades, the firm uses
Since their grandfather’s time in the 1950s, the Semonsat family has always been in the quarrying industry, with different family members running various quarry businesses. After creating Semonsat Fils in 1995, Jean-Christophe and Stephan opened their own granite quarry. “Now we have three,” says a proud Jean-Christophe.
Despite the continued challenging economic climate across Europe, Jean-Christophe and Stephane are working hard to grow their family firm. Semonsat Fils has been supplying large quantities of granite for contractors working on the recently completed three-year, 14km Gannat-Vichy motorway project.
“We opened our Saint Antoine quarry in Gannat in 2012 and having it so close to the motorway as it was being built was perfect. It was a really important contract for us. There are not many big projects in this area but business is good as we’ve got a lot of locally-based clients.”
McCloskey J50 jaw crusher
McCloskey describes the highly mobile J50 jaw crusher as an example of “innovation and design meeting in one machine”.
Powerful and robust, the 48tonne model is said to be a continuation of McCloskey’s focus on quality, durability and productivity.
Powered by a Caterpillar C9 (261kW) engine, the J50 comes with a 1,270mm
It is also said to offer the largest stockpile height in its category, with the model’s extended main conveyor able to lower and rise hydraulically for easy removal and maintenance. An extended side conveyor comes as standard.
The J50 has a 6.8m³ level hopper capacity and 10.2m³ gross hopper capacity. The jaw crusher has a transport height, length and width of 3.4m, 14.5m, and 2.9m respectively.
Options available for the J50 include a roll in bogie, a hopper extension, an overband magnet, and a dust suppression system.
McCloskey TS4065 Tracked Stacker
McCloskey’s versatile TS4065 Tracked Stacker is suitable for both primary stockpiling or finished aggregate or sand stockpiling with an up to 600tonnes/hour handling capacity.
Featuring a 36.5kW built in diesel engine and hydraulic controls, the TS4065 can be set-up to work just five minutes after arriving on a job site.
Due to its novel twin fold design the model is said by McCloskey to have the smallest transport footprint of any machine in its class.
An adjustable feedboot on the TS4065 Track Stacker allows the hopper side to be raised, said to reduce impact when being fed from screening plant side conveyors.
The TS4065 is capable of a stockpile height up to 7.9 metres at a peak rate of up to 500tonnes/hour.
McCloskey C38 cone crusher
The C38 McCloskey cone crusher is said by the Canadian manufacturer to be the “ideal portable secondary crushing solution for the operator requiring production rates of up to 300 tonnes per hour.”
Designed to work with fellow McCloskey primary crushers including the J50 and J40 jaw crushers, cubical chip from 9.52mm to 127mm is possible when the C38 is deployed after primary crushing with a McCloskey S130 screening plant.
McCloskey says its C38 model stands out as an entry level cone crusher with full level features such as an anti-spin system, load and material level monitoring, fully hydraulic push button CSS adjust and full hydraulic relief system.
CRUSHERS & SCREENS
McCloskey J50 jaw crusher
McCloskey C38 Cone Crusher
Powerscreen Warrior 1800 screen Extec S4 screen
EXCAVATORs
Hitachi Zx470
Komatsu PC 138
Komatsu PC 350
Komatsu PC 228
Komatsu PC 450
Komatsu PC 360
Doosan DX 235
WHEELED LOADERS
Doosan DL420 x2
Caterpillar 972K
Case 921E
BREAKERS
Furukawa f35xp hydraulic hammer
TRACKED STACKER
McCloskey TS4065
