Drones set to be a big hit in Asia, Africa and Middle East quarrying

In my role as Editor of Aggregates Business International - Asia, Africa & Middle East over the last two years, I’ve noted the huge growth in the use of plant automation in modern quarrying across the world.

The bottom line gains are tangible when you visit quarry businesses using automated solutions, but the use of drones to capture a wealth of quarry operation data that can be transferred via a server and software interface platform to a quarry operator’s smartphone, tablet, laptop or PC, as part of the automated plant package, feels a more recent phenomenon. A recent phenomenon that is now well on the way to becoming a staple tool in the quarry sector’s future, as the lower cost of drone use coupled with more liberal legislation on how and when you can fly them makes them an even more attractive option.

In the Quarry Profile this issue, we look at how one drone data management system coupled with a strict fleet replacement and maintenance strategy is key to one Cape Town, South Africa quarry’s production efficiency gains. Not only are the drones used by the quarry highly accurate in their image and data capture, they can measure volumes of all stockpiles in just 10 minutes. Quite incredible when you consider that it took the same quarry up to two days or more of intense GPS work to cross-section the same piles. It’s claimed that switching to drone data collection, a quarry can reduce the required man-hours by around 60% while producing results within 2% of manual measurement.

Remaining in southern Africa, this issue’s Interview sees senior figures from 448 Metso and 642 Pilot Crushtec International on the significance of the latter becoming the former’s sole southern Africa distributor for its mobile and aggregates segment models. The major distribution agreement takes in customers in South Africa, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Tanzania.

Turning attention to South East Asia, the Prachuap Khiri Khan region of Thailand has a long history of producing high-quality aggregates. Tabsakae Granite, one leading company there, is said to have seen major production and high-quality aggregate gains from operating a complete mobile crushing and screening plant from 460 Sandvik Construction. You can read the full story on this in our Quarry Report inside.

Indonesia, South East Asia’s largest economy, is the focus of this issue’s Market Report. A nation of almost 260 million inhabitants, derived from over 300 ethnic groups, it’s a fascinating country with huge potential for sustainable high aggregate and quarrying and construction equipment demand. 395 Caterpillar, the world’s biggest selling quarrying and construction OEM, has stated its intention to invest in remanufacturing capabilities in Indonesia, reducing owning and operating costs by giving customers same-as-new new quality parts for their machines at a greatly reduced cost. Other leading OEMs have also stressed the big potential of the Indonesian market.

India is an aggregates sector heavyweight whose quarry operators and contractors are keen to invest in new and proven crushing and screening models. In his latest article on the Indian market, Partha Pratim Basistha looks at how big names such as Sandvik India, 3652 Terex India and 6550 Wirtgen India are meeting this demand by launching new models for the Indian market in 2016.