Every year, three million tonnes of crushed rock is drilled, blasted, transported and sold from a low silica limestone quarry in Fujairah, one of the seven districts of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
A relative stone’s throw from the glittering towers and desert oasis of Dubai, Tawiain in Fujairah lies just inland on the Gulf of Oman coastline. The region is dominated by the Hajar mountain range, which reaches up to 1,000m and contains igneous, limestone and metamorphic rocks.
The Al Khaleej Rock Engineering (Fujairah), part of the Gulf Rock Engineering Group, has operated a vast limestone quarry in the mountainous Tawiain area for the last seven years.
The company is part Swedish owned and specialises in rock excavation by drilling and blasting, and has installed a large capacity crusher and processing plant on site. The limestone is low in silica and when processed, is suitable for steel and chemical industry applications. Every year, 500,000tonnes of the crushed rock is exported to India and the rest is sold to local markets. Ready-mixed concrete producers are major consumers as the limestone is ideal for cement production.
The 750,000m² quarry concession area contains at least 50 more years of reserves at current output levels.
To help run quarrying operations Gulf Rock has over 70
The company has recently acquired three Volvo A35E articulated haulers and three Volvo FMX 400 8x4 trucks.
“We have been buying Volvo machinery, especially articulated haulers and wheeled loaders for more than 25 years,” says Jonathan Mark Cottam, managing director of Gulf Rock. “We still have 12 Volvo A25C and A25B haulers in operation that were purchased in the early nineties and one Volvo A20 articulated hauler, that’s still in good working order. That has given us more than 20 years of service – even after we bought it second hand.”
Many of Gulf Rock’s older articulated haulers have been modified for specialised jobs with one hauler fitted with a fully hydraulic robojet boom mounted for shotcrete applications in tunnels and slope stabilisation works. Some haulers have been converted to water tankers and modified to fit 500kVA generators to get power and water to anywhere on site.
In the summer months temperature can reach to 50oC in the shade.
“To combat the harsh temperatures and climatic conditions, we specify that our machines have arid tropical radiators and cooling systems,” says Cottam.
“All our new heavy equipment units are delivered with fully air conditioned and enclosed cabs. We don’t buy equipment without cabs anymore to ensure operator comfort, but the climate isn’t a struggle for our Volvos. Conditions for personnel working outdoors are also a lot better now.”
Nine years ago, the UAE. Ministry of Labour implemented a midday work ban where no outdoor work is allowed from 12.30-3pm between 15 June and 15 September each year.
Volvo CE’s regional dealer,
“Sweden has a long-standing and excellent reputation for hard rock excavation,” says Lars Liden, owner of Gulf Rock.
“The Volvo equipment range is naturally designed for the job. Famco has taken care of all maintenance needs for Gulf Rock’s recent machine acquisitions from 2007 onwards, and currently provides service support for over 22 machines.”
Recently Volvo’s Swedish factory built several Volvo FMX 400 8x4 on-highway trucks to Gulf Rock’s own specifications. These were then shipped to Spain where Hardox scow-end rock bodies were fitted.
“Although fuel is cheaper here than other places in the world, it’s certainly not something to ignore. All our new units are also fitted with CareTrack which is great for monitoring control on our remote sites. We can still collect performance information and maintenance criteria wherever the machine has mobile phone coverage; all this helps to increase our efficiency.”
