Smiths Bletchington move to track-mounted mobiles
An Oxfordshire limestone quarry has increased the efficiency and reduced the environmental impact of its quarrying operations by changing to a new excavation and crushing process that features two Nordberg Lokotrack LT105 track-mounted mobile crushing plants.
Independent aggregate producers Smiths Bletchington are operating the two LT105s at Ardley Quarry near Bicester. The 37-tonne machines were supplied by Metso Minerals (UK) Ltd as part of a major reorganization of the quarry, which is operated under a lease from owners Viridor Waste Management Ltd.
The company’s purchasing decision was influenced by a number of key factors, including the increased production efficiency associated with track-mounted mobile crushing plants. The company also wanted to eliminate lost production caused by increased restrictions to their drilling and blasting operations in much of the northern part of the quarry, where the site boundary lies within 20m of the Oxford to Birmingham railway line.
This led to the purchase of a 70-tonne Cat 365C hydraulic excavator, which is now the prime excavation and loading machine in a ‘rip-and-load’ extraction process that has eliminated the need for drilling and blasting. The Cat 365C is used to extract and then load the hard oolitic limestone into the first LT105 crusher. Any material too large to pass through the crusher’s feeder is broken up by one of two Rammer S23 City hydraulic hammers that formed part of the Lokotrack crusher package.
Limestone that passes through the primary crusher is either stockpiled or discharged into the second LT105 for further crushing if the two machines are working in series. Products from the second crusher are either stockpiled or discharged on to a 10ft x 5ft vibrating screen for further processing.
According to Smiths Bletchington’s production director, Nigel Bailey, the new excavation and crushing equipment has more than lived up to expectations. ‘The Lokotrack LT105s are durable, high-performance crushers with an excellent control system. This allows them to be controlled by our excavator operator, releasing quarry personnel for other tasks.’
Quarry manager John Stocker added: ‘The track-mounted crushers are also much easier to move around the quarry. We can relocate the two LT105s in about 1h; this is around one fifth of the time that was needed to move our old wheel-mounted jaw crusher. The end result is greater efficiency and improvement in production.’
Another important factor in Smiths Bletchington’s decision was Metso Minerals’ customer-support capabilities. ‘We expect our suppliers to provide a fast and effective response whenever we need their support and are confident that we will get this from Metso Minerals,’ said Mr Bailey.
Metso Minerals (UK) Ltd, Parkfield Road, Rugby, Warks CV21 1QJ; tel: (01788) 532100; fax: (01788) 546563.
Independent aggregate producers Smiths Bletchington are operating the two LT105s at Ardley Quarry near Bicester. The 37-tonne machines were supplied by Metso Minerals (UK) Ltd as part of a major reorganization of the quarry, which is operated under a lease from owners Viridor Waste Management Ltd.
The company’s purchasing decision was influenced by a number of key factors, including the increased production efficiency associated with track-mounted mobile crushing plants. The company also wanted to eliminate lost production caused by increased restrictions to their drilling and blasting operations in much of the northern part of the quarry, where the site boundary lies within 20m of the Oxford to Birmingham railway line.
This led to the purchase of a 70-tonne Cat 365C hydraulic excavator, which is now the prime excavation and loading machine in a ‘rip-and-load’ extraction process that has eliminated the need for drilling and blasting. The Cat 365C is used to extract and then load the hard oolitic limestone into the first LT105 crusher. Any material too large to pass through the crusher’s feeder is broken up by one of two Rammer S23 City hydraulic hammers that formed part of the Lokotrack crusher package.
Limestone that passes through the primary crusher is either stockpiled or discharged into the second LT105 for further crushing if the two machines are working in series. Products from the second crusher are either stockpiled or discharged on to a 10ft x 5ft vibrating screen for further processing.
According to Smiths Bletchington’s production director, Nigel Bailey, the new excavation and crushing equipment has more than lived up to expectations. ‘The Lokotrack LT105s are durable, high-performance crushers with an excellent control system. This allows them to be controlled by our excavator operator, releasing quarry personnel for other tasks.’
Quarry manager John Stocker added: ‘The track-mounted crushers are also much easier to move around the quarry. We can relocate the two LT105s in about 1h; this is around one fifth of the time that was needed to move our old wheel-mounted jaw crusher. The end result is greater efficiency and improvement in production.’
Another important factor in Smiths Bletchington’s decision was Metso Minerals’ customer-support capabilities. ‘We expect our suppliers to provide a fast and effective response whenever we need their support and are confident that we will get this from Metso Minerals,’ said Mr Bailey.
Metso Minerals (UK) Ltd, Parkfield Road, Rugby, Warks CV21 1QJ; tel: (01788) 532100; fax: (01788) 546563.
