Duntilland Quarry Case Study
The Problem
Ready mix concrete supplier Cemex required assistance with the stripping of overburden and crushing of material within the Duntilland quarry.
The quarry produces 1.5million tonnes per annum of Doleritic hard stone, with which it supplies internal and external bitumen, cement and building material products. There is an additional bitumen plant which produces approximately 200,000 tonnes per annum. With material excavation at Duntilland a 24/7 operation, it is key that overburden is removed and disposed of swiftly. On site crushing and advance stacking allows the overburden to be easily managed.
The AB2K Solution
In order to ensure that overburden could be continually stripped and disposed of, so as not to impact upon the quarry’s profitability, AB2K ensured that all plant utilised was fitted with additional reliability fixtures, designed to take the strain off this heavy workload.
The tracked excavators and attachments in place to strip the overburden were subject to regular maintenance by the organisation’s sector specific on-site team, ensuring that these busy workhorses were given regular care and attention.
A fleet of heavy-duty articulated dump trucks were on site at all times, ready to ferry the excavated material to the crusher. The articulated bodies managed the movement of the heavy load over rough terrain. Vehicles without back doors are ideal for sites where larger rock products and bulky materials are being moved, so this provided the ideal solution for a quarry!
Jaw and cone crushers finished the job. Each crusher was fitted with an accurate Belt-Way measuring system, designed to provide exact output totals of material crushed per hour. As well as allowing the AB2K and Cemex teams to easily monitor the overburden strip levels, this allows AB2K maintenance teams to monitor how much material the asset has handled, and manage material feed in a way that ensures optimal performance and minimal wear on parts. The last thing anyone on site wants is a crusher that won’t crush!
The Result
As well as ensuring the operations were run smoothly, with minimal down time and maximal profitability, the key for Cemex and AB2K was a safe site.
As well as providing all plant on site, the AB2K team provided all operators, with every person holding a full CPCS/NPORS card. A rotation of site supervisors are also on site 24/7, oversees the entire job to ensure everything runs smoothly, safely and to plan.
Cemex quote:
‘In a year when it has been extremely difficult to hire plant suitable for our projects – AB2000 has never let us down on their promise, they have made plant available when required and I cannot speak highly enough of the operators that have been supplied on each job. Your company has helped us complete our projects on time and within budget.’
