Features

Conveyor equipment in a quarry takes a beating: anything that can make it last longer pays dividends as Patrick Smith discovers Conveyors, like other means of moving material, have now become an integral part of many quarries. Indeed, a quarry operation’s harsh environments offer little respite when it comes to the performance of the conveying equipment: reliability and robust design are the top priorities in a quarry manager’s mind. Tight production deadlines and maintenance budgets mean downtime can be co

Eppleton Quarry products in North-East England is producing limestone and sand from a former colliery. A colliery reclamation area is now a quarry producing limestone materials and a high quality yellow building sand.
For the last 11 years Eppleton Quarry Products, a Hall Construction Services company based in Sunderland, north-east England has been processing this material, which is then sold to block makers and also used for pathways and speedway tracks. Recently Finlay Plant Northern supplied a Terex Fi

A biodiversity offsetting scheme is underway as part of a quarry extension which includes the removal of 20 million m³ of overburden. Patrick Smith reports Rock and mineral extraction sites are often of great biodiversity and/or geodiversity interest. The particular interests and importance are dependent on a number of factors such as the local solid geology and drift geology, altitude, water table level and the type of restoration following excavation.
“Some old quarries resemble inland rock habitats wit

Raising the Bar, an initiative at the John Wainwright quarry, aims to create a sustained and vibrant safety culture as Patrick Smith reports Anew safety initiative called Raising the Bar has been introduced by an award-winning company at its quarry. Late last year at the Mineral Products Association’s (MPA) prestigious Health and Safety Conference and Awards, John Wainwright was awarded the John Crabbe Memorial Trophy for outstanding excellence in health and safety.

After looking at the options, an Oman company opted for a dual powered machine to help produce aggregates Powerscreen has sold its first dual powered screening machine into Oman, which has an abundance of riverbed gravel that is widely used for construction material after processing. One place where this naturally fragmented material is available is Barka, 60km from Muscat, the capital city of Oman. Alisco Strong Plant, one of the leading road contractors in Oman, operates a crushing and screening facility

With the UK government consulting on moves to turn the EU Emissions Directive into UK law, Stephens Scown’s Robert Camp looks at how the legislation is aimed at streamlining regulation In December 2010, the EU Industrial Emissions Directive was published in the Official Journal and came into force on 6 January, 2011. The deadline for member states to implement it into domestic law is 6 January, 2013. The adoption of the Directive followed a process which began in November 2005 when the European Commission l

In recent times the requirement to wash mineral reserves has become more frequent as operators tackle more difficult materials. With this upward trend set to continue, equipment manufacturers have an important part to play in developing products which meet the evolving demands of the global industry. Peter Craven outlines the approach taken by CDE Global in response to this challenge. “There has always been a requirement to process difficult materials. The geology of a region plays a large part in influenci

Automation of materials handing on site is helping to improve safety and reduce costs. Advances in computer technology and control systems has significantly changed the way quarries are operated with central control rooms to manage almost every aspect of the work. From such hubs, the quarry's management team can monitor and control conveyors, crushers, screens, blenders and dispatch system with the touch of a button.

Simon Purchon talks to Patrick Smith about the asset management side of Babcock International Group Globally each year, the aggregates industry moves 25 billion tonnes of construction aggregates. According to Babcock International Group the management of fleets that move these huge volumes are absolutely critical to operational effectiveness and can mean the difference between business success and failure, and have a knock-on effect across a multitude of industries.
Simon Purchon is a man with an internati

Articulated dump trucks are ideal haulers for many quarries and now there are more machine options available. ABE reports. With capital expenditure under scrutiny, the lower cost of articulated dump trucks (ADTs) over rigid alternatives is making them an attractive hauling option. Quarry operators also have more to choose from with Liebherr launching its first ADT and Terex, Volvo, Hydrema and Bell upgrading their ranges.

Using cheaper crusher wear parts may help cash flow in the short term but longer term gains come from investing in quality parts. While capital investment for new machinery may not be readily available, maintaining existing machine fleets to a high standard is essential in the long term. Wear parts manufacturers are warning against using cheaper parts in a bid to reduce costs because the long term impact on machine performance may be far greater.