Breaking, Drilling & Blasting

Onerous red tape is one of the significant challenges to operating quarries in Malaysia. ABE takes a look at the difficulties faced by the Cheras granite quarry

All quarries face legal, environmental and health and safety hurdles in order to operate but the challenge faced by Malaysian quarries is particularly onerous. According to Hanson-Heidelberg Cement group northern and central Malaysia regional director Chris Landry, operating in the Malaysian industry involves considerable red tape.

Investment in centrifuges at Cemex's Dove Holes Quarry is set to improve washing processes and open up access to reserves. Claire Symes reports

The hills and countryside of Derbyshire in the UK makes it a popular destination for tourists and in June, the quarry industry will also be heading there for the Hillhead exhibition. But while Hillhead might be the most internationally known quarry in the county, it is also home to a number of other large quarries, including the largest one in Cemex's global empi

Rockmore International, a global manufacturer of premium quality percussive rock drilling tools, has opened an additional manufacturing centre in Europe. The US$12 million (€9 million) facility in Judenburg, Austria will, along with its existing plant in the USA, effectively double Rockmore's production capacity "We are looking to the future of the industry and meeting the needs of our customers for the next 20 years," says Pejman Eghdami, executive vice president of Rockmore International.

Finning International, represented in the UK by Finning UK and Ireland, and Caterpillar have reached an agreement for Finning to acquire from Caterpillar the distribution and support business formerly operated by Bucyrus in portions of South America and Western Canada and in the UK.
After closing, Finning expects to begin providing sales, service and support for former Bucyrus mining products in all of Finning’s dealership territories.
The transaction is valued at approximately US$465 million (€365 millio

Atlas Copco has acquired Perfora, Italy, a company that manufactures and sells cutting and drilling equipment in the dimensional stone industry (DSI). Through this acquisition Atlas Copco is entering the DSI quarry equipment sector, thereby broadening the group’s business interests.

Overall, Sandvik’s business was stable in the fourth quarter with good performance especially in Sandvik Tooling but also in Sandvik Mining and Construction.
This is the view of Sandvik’s president and CEO Olof Faxander who was talking about the group’s interim report on the fourth quarter and full-year 2011.
“In Sandvik Materials Technology, the scenario was more fragmented, with high demand in the oil and gas industry offset by weakness in several other segments. The North American market was stable dur