Modern Quarrying Q3 2019

WATER TANKS AT THE QUARRY FACE

The Sandvik CS430 cone crusher has been designed to allow the crusher to run either full or empty, with its own dedicated feed bin.

Plant upgrade In 2016, Blurock engaged the services of a business development consultant, Deon Bosman, who suggested a growth and development plan for the operation. Based on Bosman’s previous experience with the Sandvik product, he recommended Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology to Blurock Quarries. In 2016, Blurock started looking at areas where effi- ciencies could be created. The first Sandvik machine to be purchased was the CH440 cone crusher. Adam Taylor, Lifecyle Services Manager – Crushing and Screening at Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology Southern Africa, says the CH440 is suitable for a high-capacity secondary application or a high-reduction tertiary or pebble-crushing application, and it can be matched to changes in produc- tion through the selection of crushing chambers and an eccentric throw. The flexibility means that it’s suitable for a wide range of applications. In this instance, the CH440 was deployed as a tertiary crusher, replacing both the Metso HP300 and the Telsmith 36” fine cone. “We removed two crushers and replaced them with a single, new generation crusher,” says Hunter- Smith. “Apart from an increase in crushing throughput, this simplified our plant layout and having one crusher in the tertiary crushing stages, instead of two, reduced our maintenance effort,” says Hunter-Smith. The Telsmith 36” fine cone was an old crusher which called for regular maintenance, which in turn resulted in unwanted downtime. In addition, maintenance of the old Telsmith posed safety hazards for the maintenance crew because its older technology did not have the means to lift the top of the crusher hydraulically like the new generation Sandvik CH440. This feature has resulted in a reduction in downtime related to clearing blockages, which have been reduced from three hours on the old crusher, to about half an hour on the new crusher. With the new CH440, Hunter-Smith also opted for Sandvik’s Automatic Setting Regulation control system (ASRi), which enables real-time performance management, allowing the machine to consistently run at optimum levels. “When a Sandvik CH440 cone crusher is equipped with ASRi, it automatically adapts the crusher to variations

in 2015, after having served as the manager since 2010, Jeremy Hunter-Smith has focused his efforts on taking the business to the next level. He tells Modern Quarrying that following several recent interventions, the business has grown from strength to strength. Significant among some of the key initiatives in recent years was the investment in new generation Sandvik crushing and screening equip- ment for the upgrade of the secondary and tertiary stages of the main processing plant. This was followed by recent investments in the modernisation of enabling infrastruc- ture – new powerline, new substation, new switch room and a new control room, among others. “In recent years we have focused on upgrading our operation to be in line with the technological revolution. With the market slowdown, we have put our efforts into increasing efficiencies. A dip in the market can actually be an eye opener for a business – it has driven us to refocus our efforts on things that really matter, such as cutting wastages and driving efficiency in every way possible,” says Hunter-Smith. Old plant Prior to the plant upgrade, Blurock Quarries operated an old processing plant that lacked capacity, efficiency and flexibility. The primary crusher was a Nordberg 1109 jaw crusher. It was a very old unit, one of only four brought into the country many years ago. From there, material was sent to a Telsmith 2536 jaw crusher, used as a secondary jaw crushing unit. “We had a primary and secondary jaw crusher. The reason was that we were able to feed into either jaw, which created a bit of flexibility in the event of a challenge with either of the two,” explains Hunter-Smith. From there, material would go to the intermediate stockpile, from which it would be fed into a Metso HP300 cone crusher, which in turn fed the Ore Master vertical shaft impact (VSI) crusher. From the VSI, material would be fed into a Dabmar double-deck screen. All oversize material would report back to a Telsmith 36” fine cone, before being fed into a 5” x 12” triple-deck screen for final segregation. This would then feed the bins, from which the articulated dump trucks were loaded for stockpiling.

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MODERN QUARRYING QUARTER 3 - 2019