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ContiTech, one of Continental AG’s five divisions, generated sales of €3.6 billion in the past fiscal year, an increase of 16%. Among the Hanover, Germany-based technology company’s products are conveyor belts used in the quarrying and mining inustries. “We have thus once again broken the record for the best result in the company’s history,” says Heinz-Gerhard Wente, head of Continental’s ContiTech division and chairman of the ContiTech AG executive board.

Metso has signed a contract with the MMX mining company in Brazil containing vertical grinding technology. The 14 VERTIMILL VTM-3000-WB grinding mills equipped with drives of 2,235kW will be assembled for the expansion of the Serra Azul iron ore project in São Joaquim de Bicas, Brumadinho and Igarapé in the state of Minas Gerais, south-eastern Brazil.
“The Serra Azul project is a very important one as it consolidates the stirred milling technology in the iron ore regrinding applications,” says Eduardo Kubr

Portuguese company Semapa has agreed to pay CRH €574m for a stake the Irish group owns in a joint venture between the two companies.
A Paris-based international arbitration tribunal ruled last year that CRH had to sell its 49% stake in Portuguese cement maker Secil. Since 2009 Semapa has claimed that it was entitled to exercise an option that would allow it to acquire the CRH’s stake in the joint venture. CRH paid €429 million to Semapa in 2004 to buy the 49% stake in Secil, and that included the assumptio

Site operatives are at their most vulnerable when on foot in the quarry. ABE takes a look at some initiatives and techniques to improve visibility and minimise the safety risk

Machine design has significantly improved the safety of operatives while accessing and using quarry equipment but they are still highly vulnerable while out of that environment. Ensuring staff can be seen is as important as educating operatives to be self aware of the potential risks of crossing the quarry floor on foot.

Austria-based Michetschläger has just acquired its first mobile crusher. ABE takes a look at the use of the DSB Innocrush 30 on site

Many quarries that have traditionally used static plants to meet the demand for aggregates are now looking to mobile equipment in place of investing in direct replacements. One of the latest quarries to take this route is Michetschläger based near the town of Eberstalzell in Upper Austria.

Holcim has held its 100th annual meeting which was attended by 2,076 shareholders, with all motions proposed by the board of directors passed after majority votes in their favour. The pay-out from capital contribution reserves of CHF1 per registered share was approved. The remuneration report was confirmed in an advisory vote by shareholders holding approximately 79% of the share capital represented. Professor Wolfgang Reitzle was newly elected to the board of directors. His past roles include CEO of Linde;

Manufacturer and supplier of crusher spare parts and crusher services Crusher Manganese Steels has been awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade for outstanding achievement in export sales. Founded in 1989 Crusher Manganese Steels marketing its business under the trademark CMS Cepcor has successfully grown into a leading aftermarket manufacturer and supplier of precision crusher spare parts and premium manganese wear parts and crusher repairs, servicing the quarrying and mining Indust

Higher sales, mainly from operations in the United States, South and Central America and the Caribbean, helped Cemex increase its consolidated net sales for the first quarter of 2012. These increased by 4% to approximately US$3.5 billion (€2.64 billion) compared to the same period in 2011 while operating EBITDA increased by 7% during the first quarter to US$567 million versus the same period in 2011. On a like-to-like basis for the ongoing operations and adjusting for currency fluctuations, operating EBITDA

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

Economics and politics seem to be the main influencers of the UK aggregates industry at present. Adrian Greeman reports

The dominant issue affecting the UK aggregate industry is, unsurprisingly, the economy and the impact of the credit-crunch. That for the moment has pushed into the background various other issues including new environmental controls, the possibility of devolved planning bound up in the general election and the development of transport.

Quarry restoration is not a new concept but improving techniques are helping to deliver better results for ecology. ABE takes a look at Hanson's restoration of Needingworth Quarry

Restoration of many quarries is now planned in great detail before even permission to start extraction is granted and is carried out progressively during the life of the quarry. This level of forethought and phasing is enabling quarry operators to deliver much higher standards of restoration both for the site itself and the reg

The debate continues to rage on the best way to benchmark the cement industry for phase three of the EU Emissions Trading System. Robert Camp looks at the arguments

When the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) was first introduced in 2005, most of the emission allowances were handed out for free, based on historic emissions. The basic idea is that as the ETS matures, the proportion of free allowances will decrease while an increasing number will be auctioned. This gives producers an incentive to reduce emi

The European Aggregates Association outlines its ongoing campaign to improve access to raw materials in the EU

Ensuring access to essential raw materials, despite continuous dialogue with the EU Institutions, is still a key issue for the Extractive Industry. The European Aggregates Association (UEPG) has conducted a long term campaign on "access to resources" and keeps calling for better and sustainable planning policies in Europe through two new initiatives.

Late last year, the 12th European Minerals Forum took place in the North-Rhine Westphalian Representation, Brussels.
The high-level event, organised by the European Minerals Foundation with strong support from the Non-Energy Extractive Industry Panel (NEEIP), brought together more than 50 stakeholders and was an opportunity to address the key challenges of the industry. At the event on 30 November, the central theme was Resource Efficiency, the major topic of 2011 for the European Union institutions (2012

Getting the right machine for the right application is an essential part of Malcolm Edwards' role with Hitachi. He spoke to Claire Symes about his career and the industry

According to Hitachi's Malcolm Edwards, equipment for the quarrying industry should be sold on technical specification rather than price and ensuring this happens is a key part of his role. Edwards is Hitachi's international sales area manager for heavy and mining equipment but is more of a technical man than a sales man.

Biodiversity is firmly on the agenda for 2010 with it being the International Year of Biodiversity. Claire Symes spoke to IUCN's Hans Friederich to find out what this means for the organisation and how it is working with the aggregates market

Biodiversity has become a commonly used term within the European quarrying industry over the last decade or so, but for one organisation the history stretches back much further. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has been working to conserve t

I was recently invited to talk about the image the aggregates industry presents to the outside world and look at how this could be improve. One thing that struck me with preparing for this presentation is that this sector has a lot going for it - some great people and unusual operations, but what is common to almost every site is the drive to improve biodiversity and sustainability. The sheer number of projects and efforts put into these areas are clear to me in my role as editor of ABE and it is easy to se

Tarmac is trialling a new software package that aims to improve ready mixed concrete quality. ABE reports on the technology behind the new solution

Delivering ready mixed concrete to specification and managing slump are challenges that have been a continual problem for the construction industry. Now new software being trialled by Tarmac is making a real difference - saving clients' time and money and improving the accuracy and efficiency of concrete production.

The end of the year always makes people look back and review the highs and lows of the last 12 months and although 2010 has been a challenging year for the quarry industry, it has improved as the year has progressed. I am also pleased that so many people I have spoken to recently think that the prospects for 2011 mean that the positive trend is likely to continue. Writing for the features for the last issue of ABE for 2010 has made me feel quite nostalgic about the magazine and to look back over the time si