Tough Stuff #33
Cone crusher performs for wind farm contract
A single contract to supply aggregate for a Waikato wind farm project has boosted output by ten times at Te Mata Quarry near Raglan.
This year, production will rise from 30,000 to 300,000 tonnes.
Some 250,000 tonnes will be needed to complete construction of the WEL Networks/Meridian Energy wind farm project on hill country adjacent to the quarry. A total of 28 wind turbines will be built. Each is 90 metres high. The wind farm will produce enough electricity to power 30,000 homes.
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| "The contractor told me the chip is as perfect as you can get it." |
Te Mata Quarry owner Tom Jowsey says the contract required a significant upgrade of the site, including a new weighbridge and crushing plant. Tom needed to replace his 3ft Shenyang cone with a new tertiary crusher to produce large quantities of top quality GAP 40 and 65, PAP, 5-12mm and 12-19mm fractions, and concrete aggregate.
Tom initially used a Metso LT200HP mobile cone crusher, but has now upgraded to a fixed plant built around Metso’s latest GP200 cone crusher. Both crushers were supplied by MIMICO, distributors of Metso plant and parts in New Zealand.
A Goodwin Barsby 36x24 jaw crusher, a 10x5 screen and the GP200 now form a closed circuit for PAP production.
“The GP200 is producing about 200 tonnes an hour, and we are well ahead on the wind farm contract. We have huge stockpiles of chip.
“The contractor told me the chip is as perfect as you can get it. And that’s all down to the cone crusher. It’s unreal. If the contractor wants more fines, I just go into Settings mode on the computer display and press More or Less until it comes out the way he wants it. It’s that easy. There’s no need to stop the machine. It makes the changes as it crushes. It couldn’t be easier.”
This GP200 is equipped with an IC50 automation system that guarantees constant choke feeding and high productivity. It also incorporates an upgraded GP lubrication system designed to make the crusher more user-friendly and reliable in operation.
The Te Mata Quarry rock resource is a 55m deep basalt seam – once a lava flow from nearby Mt Karioi – and the same seam that runs under nearby Bridal Veil Falls.
“If you don’t get the right crusher on the job, this rock tends to break quite sharp, but providing we keep it choke fed, we are getting a well shaped end product out of the GP200. It’s awesome.”
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| The Metso GP200 at Te Mata quarry is producing top quality basalt chip. |
Te Mata Quarry began life as a farm quarry 35 years ago and remained a sideline to the Jowsey family’s 800ha sheep and beef farm, until this year. All but one of the Jowsey family is now employed at the quarry. Tom is the manager, his wife Helen Palmer runs the weighbridge three days a week, sons Zane and Dallas run the quarry, and third son Clinton is left to run the farm. The quarry employs only two non-family employees – one on the weighbridge and one driving dump trucks.
With Te Mata Quarry’s big investment in crushing capacity, Tom can now produce a complete range of aggregate and is looking to expand the quarry’s sales when the wind farm contract ends.
“There is very little basalt resource in the Waikato. The product here was always good but we could never make it as well as we are making it now.”
Contractor sold on hired screening plant
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| The Keestrack Novum screens roading metal on the Gentle Annie route between Napier and Taihape. |
Dave Mills is singing the praises of the Keestrack Novum screening plant after putting it to work on a roading project in the central North Island.
Dave – a director in Mills Albert Ltd – hired the Keestrack Novum to screen AP30 and drainage metal for a 22km road realignment and sealing project on the Napier-Taihape Road. Mills Albert Ltd were the earthworks subcontractor for principal contractor Downer EDI Works.
Mills Albert used a local rock source for the project, which reduced transportation costs. A 35 tonne excavator stripped the face rock, then loaded it onto a screening plant to process into AP30, 30-60mm drainage stone and larger gabion rock.
“We tried two other screening plants and had lots of problems,” Dave said. “They were both pretty high maintenance.”
In contrast, the Keestrack Novum produced twice as much as the earlier plants.
“It was dynamite. It’s not a big unit – it’s very compact – but it kept up with the 35 tonne excavator. We had a Volvo L90 wheel loader working full-time to keep up with the output from the three belts.”
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| The Novum doubled the output of other screening plants. |
Dave said the Keestrack features a much longer screen deck than other plants, providing a greater area of travel and a much more efficient screening process.
“The Novum is very, very easy to set up. And maintenance-wise, it’s well designed. It’s also very easy to monitor. With the other screens you needed to have eyes in the back of your head.”
Fuel consumption was also good, making the unit very cost-effective.
Mills Albert Ltd hired the Keestrack for 3-4 weeks. They also hired a Metso LT80 jaw crusher earlier in the project.
“We’ve found hiring plant to be very cost effective. With crushing and screening, every rock type and every application is different, so we simply hire what we need for each contract.
“We’re not using crushers and screens all the time, so purchasing our own plant would mean big costs and a lot of downtime for the gear.”
Mills Albert Ltd are based in Paraparaumu, and specialise in civil engineering works, earthmoving, forestry, roading and rock supply and placement for river protection.
ST272 delivers more capacity and flexibility
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| H.G. Leach use the versatile ST272 to screen both rock and compost. |
When H.G. Leach Ltd considered buying a new Metso ST272 screening plant, they tested it out on the worst looking product they could find.
“We took it to our Waitawheta Quarry and put it to work on the wettest, muddiest, puggiest overburden we could find,” recalls Quarry Operations Manager Dean Torstonson.
“It turned 70% into recoverable product. The Board of Directors went over to see it working and they were impressed.”
H.G. Leach purchased the new model screening plant in August 2009, just in time to help meet an order for 30,000m3 of AP100.
“We had to supply within a month, so we moved the ST272 to assist our fixed plant at the Matatoki Quarry, and we met the deadline,” Dean says.
The new model is a big step up from the existing ST171 screen H.G. Leach have been using until now. The ST272 is fully employed screening rock at the company’s four hard rock quarries and at Tirohia Compost Solutions Ltd – an associate company located adjacent to the Tirohia Quarry and Landfill site near Paeroa.
“Right now we have a supply contract to produce a 14mm all-in compost product for a major client and the screen has been ideal for screening the finished product and returning the oversize material for further composting.
“The base compost is wet material and we’re looking to achieve a high quality product, so we need to run the unit slower than we do for rock, but it does a great job.”
Dean says the change from rock to compost only requires changing two screens. The ST272 has a larger screening area, so is more efficient than the smaller ST171. Having both plants gives the company a lot of flexibility in meeting seasonal demand for aggregate and compost.
The company has been developing the Tahuna Quarry and expects the ST272 to be working there in the near future.
Low hour Moxy ideal for remote location
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| Low-hour Moxy ADTs from MIMICO deliver value and reliability. |
Working in remote locations on the East Coast has taught Gary Dalziel he needs late model equipment he can rely on.
Gary’s latest addition is a Moxy MT31 dump truck with just 1500 hours on the clock, and it’s handling all the work he can throw at it.
“We’ve had it out on hire, making logging skids, filling gullies – but mostly it is winning metal from rivers on the coast to feed my crusher to build up our roading metal stockpile. It’s a great machine and boy, can it climb.
“We got a great deal by purchasing a low hour used Moxy from MIMICO rather than buying new.”
Gary and wife Marija are directors in Kimberly Contractors Ltd, based at Tokomaru Bay.
Gary: “To get a mechanic up here to do repairs, costs me between $800 and $1000, once you pay for his time and travel costs. So I only operate new or late model gear.
“We’re running two 50 tonne diggers, one 35-tonner, two 33 tonners, a 28 tonner plus the Moxy and a mobile crusher, and the oldest machine has only done 4500 hours.”
Gary says the service he has received from MIMICO has been exceptional.
“These guys really know their machinery – they’re not learning at our expense – and they have a good supply of parts on hand which reduces lost time with ordering. We were really impressed with the one-on-one training the machanics gave to our operators, and the tips they gave them on troubleshooting.”
Kimberly Contractors started 35 years ago in the Far North, and moved to Poverty Bay in 1999. After some early business disappointments in dealing with clients and unreliable contracting partners, Gary decided to establish a self sufficient log recovery business that looked after all aspects of the business. He now has three forest owners as clients.
“We cut out a landing, then while the forestry team is harvesting the logs, we’re building the road to cart them out. The Moxy is winning metal from four or five local rivers and feeding the crusher to supply the roading crew with metal.”
The eight-man logging crew are sub-contractors who lease Kimberly’s logging gear. Then there are three full-time machine operators plus himself, and 4-5 sub-contractors carting metal in to form the roads.
“We’re not a huge outfit but we’re totally self-sufficient. We needed to be the masters of our own destiny. It might not work for everybody but it works for us because we’re operating in such remote areas.”
Kimberly Contracting operates from Te Araroa in the north right down to Lake Waikaremoana in the south. Wife and company director Marija runs the office and manages the hazard identification and OSH compliance processes.
STAFF PROFILE: Jon McAllister
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| Jon McAllister – saving customers money on their wears and spares. |
Jon McAllister loves finding new ways to help customers save money and reduce wear and tear on their crushing and screening equipment.
Jon is MIMICO’s crushing and screening after-market sales specialist. He’s a champion for Trellex modular screen media, he advises on how to get the most from Barmac wears and spares, and he’s always on the lookout for new ways to trim costs and increase efficiency for customers.
With 10 years experience working for Metso and another three under his belt with MIMICO, there’s not much he doesn’t know about the wears and spares market.
While MIMICO are the distributors for Metso gear and Trellex screen media, they are working hard to increase their non-Metso parts and wears and spares business.
Jon says when MIMICO staff are visiting a quarry or a contractor to service their Metso gear or screen media, it makes sense to have them quote to supply parts or wears and spares for other equipment on site.
MIMICO has always supplied parts for all makes of heavy machinery, and staff are working with overseas suppliers and foundries to provide new parts and wear solutions for quarriers and contractors.
Jon divides his time between the MIMICO parts office in Matamata and travelling the country solving problems for clients.
When he’s not at work (and that’s not often), Jon’s probably spending time with his two boys aged 9 and 11, or sitting on the couch watching Formula 1 racing. Ask him about his time at the V8 Supercars in Hamilton this year (just don’t mention the name Ford!).
