News

The Mineral Products Association has welcomed the publication of the third UK Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) report. A key objective of the international EITI process is to set out a summary of certain payments made by extractive industries to governments and received by governments in the interests of financial transparency. The initiative also aims to increase public awareness of the role of extractive industries in participating EITI countries. Fifty-one countries are now involved

Highways England has agreed a deal with leading UK contractors potentially worth up to £3.3 billion to enable the company to respond more quickly when motorways and major A roads need to be resurfaced. A total of 11 companies have been signed up, with four contractors allocated to each geographical area. The chosen firms are: Aggregate Industries UK, Breedon Bow Highways, CEMEX Construction Services, Colas Ltd, Eurovia Infrastructure Ltd, FM Conway, Galliford Try Infrastructure Ltd, Hanson Contracting

Aggregate Industries has been selected by the A14 Integrated Delivery Team (IDT) to exclusively deliver the surfacing works for what is England’s largest road improvement project, the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Flexible Pavement Works. Over a 30 month period, using local primary and secondary aggregate supply sources, Aggregate Industries will create in excess of 21 miles of new, multi-lane carriageway. This will involve supplying and installing 700,000tonnes of asphalt and 500,000tonnes of cement bound

RockPulse, a new technology and product introduced by Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, is a solution for real-time tool stress monitoring in top-hammer drilling.
The company says that the add-on system integrates directly with the rock drill and its control system, and can be used for drilling process optimisation in varying rock conditions. This also helps to reduce the stress fatigue of drilling tools.
It points out that optimisation of tool stress, and consequently tool lifetime, are essential for c

Superior Industries, a US-based manufacturer and global supplier of bulk material processing and handling systems, says it has resolved its disputes with Masaba, regarding Superior's truck unloader patents.
As part of that resolution, Masaba has been granted a non-exclusive licence to manufacture, sell and offer to sell Masaba truck unloaders under Superior's related patents.
According to Superior, low profile RazerTail truck unloaders offer a portable solution for unloading dry bulk materials from belly

SRC Aggregates has bought a Rubble Master RM100GO! crusher from Red Knight 6.
The family-owned business is one the largest aggregate, topsoil and concrete producers, owning multiple quarries in and around county Essex, England.
Based at Highwood Quarry near Stansted Airport, SRC supplies a diverse range of materials and services for construction, building and large-scale civil projects across the UK.
Dan Flack, RK6 director of sales, had been in discussions with SRC about adding an RM impact crusher to t

The UK Quality Ash Association (UKQAA) has appointed Tarmac’s Allan Everett as the association’s new chair, taking over from Power Minerals’ Ivan Skidmore after four years in the role.
The UKQAA is the country’s leading authority on the use of quality ash in construction and engineering applications and represents a range of members from across the construction supply chain.

In its results for the first quarter of 2018 HeidelbergCement says that positive market dynamics were hidden by adverse weather and less working days
In Q1, the sales volumes of the group’s building materials developed very differently. While sales volumes in Europe and North America were impaired by a long winter and a reduced number of working days, some emerging countries recorded considerable increases.

In its interim report for interim report for Q1 2018, FLSmidth & says it has had its highest service order intake since Q4 2012 and its first large mining order in three years. The report covers the period from. 1 January-31 March 2018. “The mining industry is recovering, and winning our first large mining order since 2015 is one of several indicators that mining capex is trending positively," says Thomas Schulz, group CEO. The return on capital employed (ROCE) increased to 10.4% in Q1 2018 from 9.4% in Q1

Organisers of bauma CTT RUSSIA say they expect a visitor interest that is at least as keen as in 2017 edition, which attracted more than 20,000 visitors from 56 countries. The event is held every year, and the 19th event will take place in the IEC Crocus Expo in Moscow from 5-8 June 2018. The international construction equipment and technology event has already attracted international companies, including Amkodor; Ammann; Bauer; Daimler Kamaz Rus; Fassi; GAZ Group Commercial Vehicles; Haulotte; Hyundai; IST

Volvo Penta is expanding its operations at a US facility to enable the final assembly of its industrial variable speed diesel engines. The company says that new production line in Lexington, Tennessee, will improve the customisation of orders and reduce delivery lead times for the company’s growing customer base in the North American market. Since introduction of its Tier 4 Final range in 2014, Volvo Penta has experienced significant growth in the industrial market including segments such as material

LafargeHolcim, the French-Swiss global building materials giant, saw its year-on-year, like-for-like sales rise 3.1% to CHF 5.83 billion (€4.87 billion) in Q1 2018. The sales rise is said to have been driven by growth in cement volumes during the first three months of the year. The Group’s Recurring EBITDA was down by 7.7% on a like-for-like basis, affected by the especially harsh winter in North America and Europe. Broadly, the underlying market trends seen at the end of 2017 continued into the first

Three mineral extraction sites in England operated by one of the UK’s leading suppliers of sands and aggregates have been recognised as achieving Professional Recognition in Mineral Extraction (PRIME) status by the Institute of Quarrying (IQ). Grundon Sand & Gravel’s Kennetholme Quarry in Berkshire, Frith End Quarry in Hampshire and Faringdon Quarry in Oxfordshire all successfully underwent a rigorous audit process, focusing on the professional development of 15 employees at all three quarries. James

The CEMEX-Tec Award will extend its deadline to Thursday 31 May 2018 in order to accommodate more high-impact projects in sustainable development by entrepreneurs and social innovators from all over the world. To date, the CEMEX-Tec de Monterrey Center for Sustainable Development has registered projects from 19 different countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. CEMEX-Tec Award-winning projects will be promoted and implemented in diverse communities around the world through financing, specialize