A fledgling operation is set to take on the Sydney sand market with a bespoke washing circuit
FAMILY BUSINESS PLANS INNOVATIVE SAND PLANT A third generation family company prepares for a lucrative sand-based future
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WASHING PLANT SETS UP FRIABLE SAND BUSINESS
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OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF QUARRYING AUSTRALIA
DECEMBER 2021
MOBILE CIRCUIT BOOSTS BAROSSA QUARRY A train of modern mobile crushers and screens lift a small quarry’s productivity
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IN THIS ISSUE DECEMBER 2021
VOLUME 29, ISSUE 12
FEATURES 28 ‘MAGNIFICENT’ SERVICE ATTRACTS LOYAL CLIENTS Thanks to magnetic separation, quarries have numerous options to combat unwanted tramp metals, contaminants and downtime.
32 TERTIARY CONE CIRCUIT: MORE OUTPUT, LESS RECIRC A quarry operation has recorded some strong results since upgrading its tertiary plant to incorporate a late model cone crusher.
18
FRIABLE BUSINESS A greenfield sand pit successfully launches a bespoke washing circuit.
22
CIRCUIT PREPARATIONS A third generation family business eagerly awaits the arrival of its new sand plant.
34 NEW OL’ RELIABLE MECHANICAL LOADER A tried and true articulated wheel loader has been invaluable for an independent contractor in Central Queensland.
36 CLOUD-BASED PROGRAM OFFERS MORE PRODUCTIVITY An earthmoving OEM’s worldrenowned telematics and machine data system promises to make the job site easier.
40 DEALER MAKES HISTORY WITH ARTIC HAULER SALE A US-based equipment dealer and its client have completed the first sale of the Rokbak RA30 ADT.
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MOBILES IN BAROSSA A trio of modern mobile crushers and screens have boosted a site’s productivity.
DECEMBER 2021
OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF QUARRYING AUSTRALIA
FAMILY BUSINESS PLANS INNOVATIVE SAND PLANT A third generation family company prepares for a lucrative sand-based future
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22
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QUARRY
A fledgling operation is set to take on the Sydney sand market with a bespoke washing circuit
CHRONIC UNEASE What is chronic unease? And how can it be applied in practice?
The Quarry editor explains the importance of empathy in his role after 13 years of covering the quarrying industry.
DECEMBER 2021
www.quarrymagazine.com
WASHING PLANT SETS UP FRIABLE SAND BUSINESS
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48 EMPATHY IN LEADERSHIP: A JOURNALIST’S VIEW
MOBILE CIRCUIT BOOSTS BAROSSA QUARRY A train of modern mobile crushers and screens lift a small quarry’s productivity
COVER ADVERTISER: A drone’s-eye view of the Terex Washing Systems bespokeable sand plant at Clarence Sands, in Lithgow, NSW. Turn to page 18 or visit: terex.com/washing/en/ Australia
EVERY MONTH 04 FROM THE EDITOR
45 IQA CONFERENCE 2022 UPDATE
06 FROM THE PRESIDENT
46 IQA NEWS
08 NEWS THIS MONTH
47 FROM THE IQA CEO
16 PRODUCT FOCUS
Quarry December 2021 3
EDITORIAL
SURVIVING IN THE HARD TIMES TO THRIVE IN THE GOOD – PART 2
M
y goodness, is this Christmas – or Groundhog Day?
We’re at the end of another extraordinary year – and again I’m sounding like a record on repeat. For readers with eidetic memories, this editorial will probably read much like the corresponding one this time last year. Shane Braddy and Kylie Fahey have commented extensively in their own columns (pages 6 and 47 respectively) about the year that was, so I’ll do my best (again) not to pre-empt them. Depending on where you live and work, 2021 (like 2020) was either business as usual or incredibly disruptive. If you were in Queensland or Western Australia, you probably got off lighter than most (although the Sunshine State did have its short, sharp lockdowns). South Australia, the Northern Territory and Tasmania went mostly uninterrupted, but for occasional COVID-19 breakouts. If you were unlucky enough to be in Victoria, New South Wales or the ACT, then it was a trying year. Australia’s two largest states at different stages had to halt their construction activities because of non-compliance issues on building sites. This would have had a flow-on effect down the supply chain, with quarries likely having to reduce production (if not stop outright) as orders were put on hold and transport personnel stood down from deliveries. Nonetheless, for a second consecutive year the quarrying industry should be applauded for its part in not only keeping construction activity ongoing but for again keeping the broader population safe. Although I haven’t (sadly) visited a quarry now for more than 12 months, I have certainly not heard reports (or rumours) of sites that were noncompliant or not COVID-safe. Once again, the industry has justified the faith put in it by governments and regulators
as an essential service. While some deliveries from abroad have slowed, the flow of plant and equipment to quarries appears to have largely occurred without impediment – judging by this issue’s examples. Clarence Sands (page 18) and Seelander Quarries (page 30) have had their respective plant up and running successfully for a few months now. PF Formation (page 22) is closely working with its OEM to realise a state of the art wash plant in the next 12 months. Time – and business – has not stopped for these sand and aggregate producers. In my editorial this time last year I praised the industry for “weathering the COVID storm” through a “business as usual” approach and “surviving the hard times to thrive in the good times”. My sentiment hasn’t changed, although I note I was a little more upbeat about our prospects for 2021. I think the events of 2021 have chastened that optimism about 2022. It’s not cynicism, it’s more caution. Even with more than 80 per cent of the Australian population immunised against coronavirus, I think this year has taught me (and possibly many of us) that we create our own luck – and optimism. They won’t just happen because we hope a new year is a good one to make up for the last one (a strong prevailing attitude at the end of 2020). Let’s work hard in 2022 for further success in the things we can control – but given COVID-19 hasn’t gone away and there are always other variants out there, let’s be vigilant and prepared for disruptors. Best wishes for the season – and stay safe! DAMIAN CHRISTIE Editor
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FOR A SECOND YEAR RUNNING, THE QUARRYING INDUSTRY SHOULD BE APPLAUDED FOR ITS ROCK SOLID COVID-19 COMPLIANCE ...
11-15 Buckhurst Street South Melbourne VIC 3205 T: 03 9690 8766 www.primecreativemedia.com.au Publisher John Murphy john.murphy@primecreative.com.au
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Art Director Blake Storey Subscriptions T: 03 9690 8766 subscriptions@primecreative.com.au Follow Quarry online: Facebook: facebook.com/quarrymagazine Twitter: twitter.com/2021Quarry LinkedIN: linkedin.com/groups/4314906/ Web: quarrymagazine.com The Publisher reserves the right to alter or omit any article or advertisement submitted and requires indemnity from the advertisers and contributors against damages or liabilities that may arise from material published. © Copyright – No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the permission of the publisher.
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Quarry December 2021
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
GROWING THE IQA’S MEMBERS IN THE POST-PANDEMIC ERA The Institute of Quarrying
W
hat a challenging, sometimes perplexing year! As an Institute, we began 2021 full of optimism, anticipating we could move back to face to face events with the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines, and all come together for the annual conference in Newcastle. Depending on where in Australia you live, a lot of those plans were scuttled by COVID-19. Face to face IQA events occurred in some states and territories more than others. Sadly, the Newcastle conference was delayed once COVID-19 case numbers escalated in NSW, Victoria and the ACT. However, one consolation out of the events we hosted was that they were all managed in a COVID-safe, compliant manner. Quarry operations of all sizes in most COVID-affected regions had to stand down staff at various times and fulfil heavy back orders after lengthy shutdowns of the Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide construction industries. This is unlikely to reoccur now the nation’s population is more than 80 per cent fully vaccinated and the Victorian and NSW economies have reopened. Of course, border restrictions apply in some jurisdictions. Once Queenslanders and Western Australians are above 70 per cent fully vaxxed, their State Governments will hopefully reopen to interstate travellers. Further, with many jurisdictions mandating that businesses must have fully vaccinated employees, I encourage members that have not done so to finalise their vaccinations as soon as they can. We don’t want to leave anyone behind going into 2022. Despite the challenges of the past 20 months, the IQA is on a sound financial footing. Our membership numbers have fallen slightly, largely due to natural “attrition” of members retiring from the industry. Fortunately, we attracted new members to minimise declining numbers. This historical trend must be addressed; the IQA Board, branches and administration are working together
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Australia
to develop strategies to increase our relevance and membership value. In line with its Strategic Plan, the IQA’s challenge to 2025 is to grow – not just maintain – its membership numbers. I urge all members to assist us in that goal by encouraging industry-related professionals to become members, especially younger people they know to become part of the IQA family, as they will be the future of the Institute. The IQA is keen to not only cater to the next generation but expand. It wants to support people who are willing to learn and develop their professional credentials, and to inspire them to become future industry (and IQA) leaders. For more information about memberships, visit quarry.com.au It is contingent on the IQA to continue to develop engaging education and networking content. We can achieve this by continuing to hold our workshops and webinars, the national conference and local branch meetings. We can also consult with our members about ideas, explore partnerships with the CCAA and other like-minded bodies and work with our international counterparts, eg the Institutes of Quarrying and the International IQ Presidents. As we move into 2022, I am cautiously optimistic about the post-pandemic period. The quarrying industry should benefit from a promising construction outlook. I am looking forward to an industry “reunification” at the national conference in Newcastle from 29 to 31 March, 2022. It will be great to interact with industry colleagues and peers face to face, and discuss how the industry can grow and evolve in the future. On behalf of the IQA Board and administration, I wish you and your families a wonderful Christmas and holiday break, and a safe and prosperous 2022.
SHANE BRADDY President Institute of Quarrying Australia
Educating and connecting our extractive industry
quarry.com.au IT IS CONTINGENT ON THE IQA TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ENGAGING EDUCATION AND NETWORKING CONTENT
The IQA’s Strategic Plan 2020 to 2025 embodies the following vision, values and strategic priorities: Vision: Educating and connecting the extractive and associated industries. Values: • A safe and sustainable environment. • Diversity and inclusion. • Working, development skills, careers and life-long learning. • Networking, connection, trust and communication. Strategic Priorities: • Maximise outcomes for industry through education and sustainable practise. • Increase our relevance. • A high performing and sustainable organisation. IQA CONTACTS: Phone: 02 9484 0577 Email: admin@quarry.com.au Chief Executive Officer Kylie Fahey Company Secretary Rod Lester For all education, member and branch enquires please email: admin@quarry.com.au.
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NEWS
BORAL’S LOCKDOWN RESULTS BOLSTER SHAREHOLDER CONFIDENCE ‘AT THIS STAGE WE DON’T EXPECT THE ADVERSE EBIT CUMULATIVE IMPACT FOR THE YEAR TO EXCEED $50 MILLION, WHICH WAS THE ORIGINAL AMOUNT FORESHADOWED FOR THE FIRST QUARTER ONLY’
concrete volumes for September 2021 compared to September 2020, while July and August combined for 36 per cent lower concrete volumes.
ZLATKO
“We are likely to see some trailing impacts from COVID restrictions in the remainder of FY2022, including some further volume impacts in October, particularly in Victoria,” he said.
TODORCEVSKI BORAL CEO & MD
Boral has reported a less significant downturn than forecast for its first quarter results of FY2021-22.
Boral has been less affected by COVID-19 east coast lockdowns than it predicted over the September quarter, with earnings only down by $33 million. The construction materials company predicted in August that the months of July, August and September could equate to EBIT (earnings before income tax) losses of about $50 million. This was forecast due to higher costs and lower volumes in Victoria
and New South Wales. “In New South Wales, where we derive more than four per cent of our Australian revenue, there was a sudden and dramatic impact in the second half of July due to COVIDrelated construction lockdowns in Greater Sydney,” said Boral chief executive officer and managing director Zlatko Todorcevski at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) on 28 October. This included 26 per cent lower
“In Victoria, our second largest geographic exposure, we experienced encouraging volumes for most of the period until mid-September when a snap shutdown of construction occurred,” Todorcevski said. While the effects of lockdown weren’t as much as forecast, Todorcevski said they are expected to lag into the coming months.
“At this stage though we don’t expect the adverse EBIT cumulative impact for the year to exceed $50 million, which was the original amount foreshadowed for the first quarter only.” In more positive news, quarry volumes were up by about three per cent, driven by Boral’s Asphalt business. The company’s AGM also saw a vote on the return of $3 billion to Boral shareholders, following the divestment of multiple building products businesses, as previously announced. This was resoundingly approved by shareholders with 99.82 per cent voting in favour. •
HOLCIM GOES CARBON NEUTRAL AT NEW RAIL FACILITY Holcim has been instrumental in the construction of the Mindyarra rail maintenance centre in Dubbo, New South Wales, contributing 9000 cubic metres of carbon neutral concrete. The concrete replaces some of the standard cement with industrial by-products like fly ash and blast furnace slag. Any remaining embodied carbon from the concrete is offset by Holcim, ensuring no carbon is added to the atmosphere due to its production. The use of the carbon neutral cement enacts Holcim’s commitment to sustainable building materials in New South Wales.
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“Our ready-mix concrete Environmental Product Declaration is an Australian first that creates transparency and confidence on carbon reductions – and more options to make construction projects greener,” said Holcim chief executive officer George Agriogiannis. The purpose of the $2.8 billion rail project is to support a new fleet of 29 bi-mode trains which run on overhead power (when running on electrified tracks) and will replace the previous XPT, XPLORER, and Endeavour diesel-electric models. The facility will stimulate the regional economy, creating 200 jobs while under
construction and 50 permanent jobs thereafter. The facility will source 95 per cent of its low voltage power requirements from onsite solar panels, while 90 per cent of its water needs will be captured or recycled. The Member for Dubbo Dugald Saunders said all elements of the facility were in line with an environmental stance from his government. “The NSW Government is serious about reducing its environmental footprint, so to have Australian-first initiatives trialled in a regional centre like Dubbo is huge,” Saunders said. •
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NEWS
ADBRI ACQUIRES QUEENSLAND FAMILY BUSINESS ‘THIS HIGHLY ACCRETIVE ACQUISITION PROVIDES ADBRI WITH AN INTEGRATED BUSINESS THAT COMPLEMENTS OUR EXISTING NETWORK OF CONCRETE ASSETS IN THE GREATER BRISBANE AREA.’ NICK MILLER The Zanows Concrete & Quarries business, based in Fernvale, Queensland.
Adbri has further expanded its quarrying footprint with the acquisition of Zanow’s Concrete & Quarries business (aka Zanows) in Queensland.
44 quarries, 16 cement and lime facilities and 10 concrete product facilities – with 29 of these being in Queensland.
The $58 million agreement includes the handover of two concrete plants (plus approval to construct a third), a sand and gravel quarry, and a hard rock quarry in the west of Brisbane.
Miller said the acquisition provided more assurance to the business as it manages a volatile construction market.
Adbri managing director and chief executive officer Nick Miller said Zanows was a great fit for the business. “This highly accretive acquisition provides Adbri with an integrated business that complements our existing network of concrete assets in the greater Brisbane area,” Miller said. Adbri has more than 100 locations around Australia – 95 concrete plants,
ADBRI CEO & MD
“This acquisition provides access to quarries with approved reserves of over 70 million tonnes, that will provide a source of long-term, high-quality raw materials to supply our vertically integrated concrete network and external customers,” Miller said. Zanows is a family-owned business which has been operating in the Brisbane Valley and the Ipswich regions since 1957, supplying construction
materials to the wider South East Queensland region. It commenced extraction of sand and gravel at its Fernvale operations in 1997. Since 2013, Zanow’s Kalbar Quarry has provided hard rock quarry products, including aggregates, roadbases and precoat materials, to the Ipswich, Scenic Rim and Brisbane Valley regions. Zanow’s Concrete & Quarries has supplied products for numerous local projects, including the RAAF Base Amberley, the Sandy Gully Bridge in Pine Mountain, and the West Moreton Anglican College. The Zanows move followed a similar deal in October and November in Melbourne. In an equal joint venture with Barro Group, Adbri paid $30 million for its share of two Metro Quarry Group sand quarries in Victoria’s Gippsland region. Both quarries provide sand to metropolitan Melbourne projects. Miller said the joint venture was an ideal agreement for Adbri as it looked to expand as reliably as possible. “This acquisition is consistent with our strategy to extend our vertically integrated footprint and provides a compelling opportunity for Adbri to lock in a long-term secure supply of natural sand for our downstream businesses servicing the competitive Melbourne market,” Miller said. Barro is a substantial shareholder in Adbri, and the two companies already hold a joint venture in Independent Cement and Lime, Adbri’s exclusive distributor of cement. •
AUSTRALIAN STATISTICS ON DISPLAY BY SWA Safe Work Australia (SWA) has released key work health and safety statistics for Australia in 2021 with fatalities halved since 2007 across all industries. SWA is an Australian Government statutory body established in 2008 to ensure the health and safety of Australian workers. For this reason, it releases an annual report for industries to understand where they stand and can improve on safety. “Understanding the causes of injury and the industries most affected can help reduce work-related fatalities, injuries and disease,” the body said in a statement about the 2021 statistics.
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According to the report, mining suffered five fatalities, ranking equal seventh behind agriculture, transport, construction and manufacturing. This statistic represented a fatality rate of 2.1 per 100,000 workers. The number of serious claims for injury or disease reported in the mining industry was 2555. At a rate of 5.1 serious claims per million hours worked, this placed mining equal 12th out of 19 industries – bettered only by education, electricity, gas, water and waste services, rental and real estate, information media, professional and scientific service’, and financial services.
With the onset of summer, SWA has also released new guidance material on managing the risks of working in heat. “The new guidance reflects changes made to the recommended first aid for heat stroke,” SWA stated. “This guide provides practical guidance for a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) on how to manage the risks associated with working in heat, including information on first aid for heatrelated illnesses that reflects updated medical advice.” To learn more, visit Safe Work Australia’s website: safeworkaustralia.gov.au •
NEWS
POSITION PARTNERS HITS THE BLINDSPOT WITH PRESIEN Position Partners will distribute Blindsight, the latest collision avoidance technology from Presien across Australia and New Zealand. Blindsight uses an integrated camera and AI software to learn and understand the surroundings of heavy industry operators – in both fixed and mobile applications. “We developed Blindsight because we wanted to create a world where every worker is safe and every employer is successful,” Presien chief executive officer Mark Richards said. “Using AI allows us to protect workers in the most complex of situations and quantify safety metrics all at once.” Blindsight detects people, vehicles, traffic cones and objects unique to each individual site. To identify the existence of these unique objects, the AI software receives automatic updates for constant improvement. The system incorporates in-cab visual, auditory and vibration sensors to alert operators. Position Partners chief executive officer Martin Nix said the distributor was proud to enhance the safety of multiple heavy industries. “Increasing safety around working heavy machinery is of paramount importance to our customers, so we are excited to announce our agreement with Presien and introduce Blindsight to the building, civil and mining sectors in Australasia,” Nix said Nix added trials in recent years have been very successful and gave Position Partners a lot of confidence in the product. •
TWO MORE MOBILE CRUSHERS JOIN LOKOTRACK RANGE ‘WITH THE NEW LT200HPX AND LT220GP, CUSTOMERS HAVE EVEN MORE CHOICE AND FLEXIBILITY TO SELECT FROM OUR CONE CRUSHER RANGE’ KIMMO ANTILLA LOKOTRACK SOLUTIONS VP, METSO OUTOTEC
Metso Outotec has extended its Lokotrack mobile crushing and screening equipment range, revealing the new LT200HPX and LT220GP on the manufacturer’s online Liveroom. The new models add up to 30 per cent more capacity than previous models and a user-friendly design based on customer feedback. Metso Outotec’s director on the new offering Jarmo Vuorenpää described three things the company had looked to achieve in the new offerings. “The first is high performance – there is a very efficient pre-screen giving the customer several processes to either bypass the material or create another product from it,” Vuorenpää said at the live unveiling on 27 October. “The second thing is the safety and easy to own aspect. Both machines have extensive and accessible platforms. They are also very compact, so despite the size and weight, they’re easy to pack up and move about. “Thirdly, we have terrific reliability which is the key. You need to be able to trust in these machines that they’ll work day after day. “We’ve put a lot of effort into the
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design including a robust chassis, wide conveyors, detailed design and it all comes down to the support we provide on top of this.” The LT200HPX has a two-deck pre-screen for higher capacity, and a direct v-belt crusher drive for better fuel efficiency. On the LT200GP, there is the option of a pre-screen or a belt feeder. “With these new models of 300 tph capacity and 40-tonne transport weight, customers have even more choice and flexibility to select from our cone crusher range,” Metso Outotec’s vice president of Lokotrack Solutions Kimmo Anttila said. The Metso Lokotrack range is available in Australia through Tutt Bryant Equipment. Visit tuttbryant.com. au/tutt-bryant-equipment/metso •
METALLICA SEES SILICA SANDS QUADRUPLE IN 2021 Metallica Minerals has increased its mineral resource by 40 per cent at its Cape Flattery silica sand project in Queensland, increasing confidence in its value to a growing market. Metallica began 2021 with an inferred resource of 12.85 million tonnes (Mt) of silica sand, before an announcement in March almost tripled that figure to 38.3Mt. Now, after another successful drilling program in August with industrial mineral specialist Ausrocks, this figure has risen once more to 53.5Mt of silica sand.
Blindsight uses cameras and artificial intelligence to protect objects and workers from collision.
The new Lokotrack LT200HPX cone crusher.
The quality of the resource has also risen marginally to an average of 99.19 per cent silicon dioxide. Metallica executive chairman Theo Psaros said these results bolstered
the future of the project as Australia holds its place as the fifth largest exporter of silica sands. “The combined measured and indicated components of the total resource confirms our confidence and are a major milestone as we progress the development of our high quality silica sand project,” Psaros said. “We continue to receive positive interest from international and domestic parties for quality silica sand. “This does not surprise us based on forecast growth in the global demand for premium product.” Such high quality sand can be used in a range of products such as flooring, mortars, cement and asphalt.•
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NEWS
WAGNERS’ ‘WORLD FIRST’ SHOWS SHOTCRETE STRENGTHS The Wagner Group has released its Earth Friendly Shotcrete in a pioneering step for zero carbon concrete with applications in ground stabilisation, tunnel linings and pools. Using Wagners’ patented Earth Friendly Concrete (EFC) low carbon technology, the Earth Friendly Shotcrete (EFS) was used commercially to construct a swimming pool. The pool was part of a housing project by Stewart Homes and Fowke Design and Constructions in Raby Bay, Queensland. Stewart Homes director Ian Henry said the low carbon qualities of this job were integral for the client. “For this build the client specified that we needed to use building materials with significantly reduced embodied carbon, and Earth Friendly Concrete by Wagners is the only cement free product on the market,” Henry said. The EFS can be used to save about 250kg of embodied carbon dioxide per cubic metre of product compared to standard concrete. Wagners EFC general manager Jason Zafiriadis said projects like the housing development were a great showcase of the product’s wider applications. “Our technology demonstrates genuine environmental benefits, and this project was an opportunity for us to demonstrate the effectiveness and functionality of Earth Friendly Shotcrete,” Zafiriadis said.•
ROADMAP PAVES THE WAY TO CLEANER, GREENER CONCRETE ‘THE CHALLENGE OF DECARBONISATION WILL REQUIRE SIGNIFICANT REGULATORY, STRUCTURAL AND BEHAVIOURAL CHANGES ACROSS THE CEMENT AND CONCRETE VALUE CHAIN’ STATEMENT FROM THE CIF, CCAA & SMARTCRETE CRC
The Cement Industry Federation (CIF) has released a report nominating pathways to decarbonise the cement and concrete industries, backed by Boral, Adbri and Cement Australia. The report – Decarbonisation pathways for the Australian Cement and Concrete Sector – was written by VDZ, a leading research centre in the cement and concrete field, with credentials involving the International Energy Agency, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and the Global Cement and Concrete Association. The report said 55 per cent of the industry’s CO2 today comes from the calcination of limestone into clinker.The remaining 45 per cent originates from the heating of cement kilns and other fuel-based processes, electrical energy usage, and heavy materials transport. To remove these emissions, eight pathways were outlined by the VDZ report, including zero emissions electricity and transport, concrete innovation and use of supplementary cementitious materials in concrete, use of alternate fuels and green hydrogen, and effective ways of capturing CO2. A joint release from the CIF, Cement
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Concrete & Aggregates Australia and Smartcrete CRC highlighted the report’s holistic approach to achieving environmental goals. “The challenge of decarbonising by 2050 will require significant regulatory, structural and behavioural changes across all segments of the cement and concrete value chain,” the report stated. “It will also require a transition to a ‘market pull’ environment through leadership in government and private sector procurement policies and changes in regulation to safely promote the uptake of lower carbon products.” •
YOUNGEST MOON ROCKS ON RECORD ONLY 2 BILLION YEARS OLD Curtin University researchers have helped to refine our understanding of the solar system’s timeline, dating the youngest Moon rocks ever discovered. The collection was part of China’s Chang’e-5 Moon landing in December 2020 and was the first time in 45 years anyone had collected Moon rocks. Lead Australian author Alexander Nemchin said the two-billion-year-old rocks were aged using large mass spectrometers.
Wagners’ Earth Friendly Shotcrete in use for a new pool.
The Cement Industry Federation’s newlyreleased Decarbonisation Pathway report.
“Previously, the youngest lunar basalt rocks collected as part of the Apollo and Luna missions, as well as lunar meteorites, were found to be older than about three billion years,” Nemchin said. “After analysing the chemistry of
the new Moon rocks collected as part of China’s recent mission, we determined the new samples were about two billion years old, making them the youngest volcanic rocks identified on the Moon so far.” Nemchin was proud to be a part of the major program and said it would help to continue strong astronomical ties with China. “This discovery puts Australia at the heart of efforts to internationalise scientific collaboration around China’s lunar exploration program, including samples returned from China’s Chang’e-5 mission and the upcoming Chang’e-6 Moon landing in 2024,” Nemchin said.•
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Crusher & Screen can also offer in stock for sale or hire the IMS – BP1200-9TB high production track blender with two large feed hoppers with gear drive hydraulic motors with variable speed conveyors feeding a stockpile conveyor remotely controlled. There is a mixer between the feed hoppers which is ideal for improved product mix with top soil and compost that hydraulicly moves to one side when blending road base and aggregates.
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CERAMIC-LINED HOSE REDUCES PIPE WEAR FLSmidth’s addition of ceramic-lined hoses to their Ludoflex brand rubber hose has opened up a range of wear areas in sand washing plants for extended life. In mid-2016, a flexible ceramic-lined rubber hose was installed at a regional quarry extracting sand and river rock for minus 5mm size crushed aggregates. A bend in the pipeline had caused problems with wear for quite some time. This hose (image) has been routinely inspected and rotated throughout its life and five years later is still in operation. In addition to bends, the ceramic-lined rubber Thebe Track andon Trace of can used pipelines feeding pumps, discharging from pumps, as Quarry Greasing well as numerous other specialised applications. GreaseBoss is the track and trace of quarry greasing. The
GreaseBoss system can track the volume and schedule for For more information: each greaseIndustries, nipple at yourrivergumindustries.com.au quarry. You can create alerts if Rivergum a grease nipple is missed and track your grease consumption against inventory. The GreaseCloud software is easily accessible through any browser. Simply fit the head unit to your grease gun and fit the tags to your grease nipples to start verifying your greasing today.
ENHANCED DOZER LINE-UP John Deere has unveiled various changes to its 950K and 1050K dozers. Enhanced with the customer in mind, the updates improve productivity, durability and operator satisfaction. The changes include a suspended double-bogie undercarriage track frame on the 1050K, an extended life undercarriage option for both models and updates to the semi-U blade offering for the 1050K. Other updates include an added 950K stockpiling configuration and improvements to exterior hoses on both machines.
For more information: John Deere, deere.com.au/en/construction
TRACK AND TRACE OF GREASING The GreaseBoss system can track the volume and schedule for each grease nipple at your quarry. You can create alerts if a grease nipple is missed and track your grease consumption against inventory. The GreaseCloud software is easily accessible through any browser. Simply fit the head unit to a grease gun and fit the tags to a grease nipple to start verifying your greasing today.
For more information: Grease Boss, greaseboss.com.au
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Quarry December 2021
To submit new product and equipment releases, email: les.ilyefalvy@primecreative.com.au
SELF-CLEANING SCREEN MEDIA Hong Hui JV has developed a self-cleaning screen media for the mining, quarrying and recycling sectors. With an aperture of 1.2mm and a wire diameter also of 1.2mm, this screen media is ideal for fine, high quality filtration. Using high tensile steel wire or stainless steel wire, plus polyurethane strips, Hong Hui has designed a reliable and hard wearing product to ensure maximum uptime for Australian quarries.
For more information: Hong Hui JV, hhjv.com.au
ADAPTABLE, PRECISE, EFFICIENT CONVEYOR SKIRTING The K-Skirt support system has been engineered to specifically accommodate Kinder Australia’s comprehensive internal and external conveyor skirting solutions. It is a galvanised bolt-in system that requires no welding during installation. Fixtures and bolt hole drillings are supplied for accurate, easy and fast installation. The system can be supplied to suit the addition of K-AllShelter Capotex conveyor covers, a range of belt widths, and stainless steel or painted options. The K-Skirt support system mounting kit is supplied in a flat pack for economical shipping.
For more information: Kinder Australia, kinder.com.au
REBRANDED, ENHANCED HAULER Formerly the Terex Trucks TA300, the 28-tonne Rokbak RA30 articulated hauler has a heaped capacity of 17.5m3, a 276kW Scania DC9 engine and a maximum torque of 1880Nm at 1400 rpm. It features a fully automatic transmission with manual over-ride and retarder and a heavyduty axle with fully floating axle shafts and outboard planetary reduction gearing. The RA30 is equipped with eight forward gears and four reverse gears, ranging from five kilometres per hour (km/h) to 55km/h. Its three axles are in permanent all-wheel drive (6x6) with a differential coupling between the front and rear axles. All hydraulic braking systems are fitted with multiplate-sealed and oil-cooled brake packs at each wheel, with independent circuits for front and rear brake systems.
For more information: Rokbak, rokbak.com Porter Group, porterce.com.au
POWERFUL, PORTABLE CONE CRUSHER The newly-launched Lokotrack LT220GP mobile cone crusher is designed for road construction, railroad ballast and asphalt and concrete fractions. It features a 220kW Metso Outotec Nordberg GP220TM cone crusher, with a pre-screen that offers up to 50 per cent more capacity. A heavy-duty chassis and wide conveyors facilitate high throughput and a direct v-belt crusher drive promises high fuel efficiency. Extensive, fold-down service platforms make maintenance and transport much easier for operators.
For more information: Metso Outotec, live.mogroup.com./lokotrack Tutt Bryant Equipment, tuttbryant.com.au/tutt-bryant-equipment/metso
Quarry December 2021 17
SAND PROCESSING
WASHING PLANT HAILS START OF FRIABLE SAND BUSINESS
A greenfield sand operation is set to meet the high demands of the Greater Sydney market after the launch of a bespoke washing circuit.
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ased in large purpose-built premises in North Penrith, Western Suburbs Concrete (WSC) is one of Western Sydney’s largest pre-mix concrete suppliers. WSC specialises in an extensive range of ornamental, general and premium concrete products for the Western Sydney, Greater Sydney and New South Wales markets, including pre-mix, decorative and blockfill concretes, as well as self-compacting, post-tension, kerb and gutter, and green star mixes, and spray mixes for swimming pools and the walls of underground tunnels, canyons and car parks. WSC can also manufacture full depth colour concrete swatches for its customers. Peter Vicary, who is WSC’s managing director, told Quarry that the family-based
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business was started by his father in 1987 and he had been a part of it for all of his adult life. “I started here in 1991 and in the 2000s, when I was 25, I bought my dad out,” he reflected. “We’ve grown from a very small operation of about 15 trucks on a 2000m2 site to now having the largest batch site in Sydney with the largest output, and we’re really the market leader in the western suburbs of Sydney. That’s been done through building trust with our clients over a number of years, and that trust comes from doing what you say you’re going to do and honouring your commitments in terms of service and quality. They’re the big things for us. “That’s what we’ve focused on intently over a period of time and from that we’ve built a lot of great relationships with our customers,”
Vicary added. “The biggest thing is our customers can rely on our service and quality, and that rolls off the tongue pretty easy but there’s not really many concrete suppliers out there that customers can rely on their service and quality con[----tinuously.” While WSC has been involved in concrete manufacturing and transport for nearly 35 years, it is only in the past two years that it has actively diversified into the quarrying sector. In 2019, the company leased a 129ha virgin sand site in Clarence, between Lithgow and the Blue Mountains. WSC began building all the infrastructure for the new site in early 2020 and commissioned its sand plant operations in July 2021. Trading under the name of Clarence Sands, the new quarry site is now supplying quality sand products
The Terex Washing Systems washing plant at Clarence Sands, aided by two 3m high radial stackers.
throughout NSW, including Metropolitan Sydney, Lithgow, the Blue Mountains, Bathurst and Orange. In just a few short months, Clarence Sands, in conjunction with WSC, has already supported several large projects in the Greater Western Sydney region, including the new Amazon facility and a Coles supermarket depot in Erskine Park. Vicary said the company is also in discussions to supply its materials to the Western Sydney Airport project. Clarence Sands operates on top of a friable sandstone deposit, which Vicary said is very different from most sandstone deposits. “It’s extremely friable, almost like a beach sand,” he explained. “The clays and silts that are present in our sandstone are quite different to other sandstone quarries, so we produce a very clean, premium grade concrete sand for the Sydney Metropolitan area. It’s finishing characteristics are excellent, it has next to no impurities and an extremely low silt content in the finished product.”
From that friable sandstone deposit Clarence Sands is producing two types of sand. “Ninety per cent is a fine sand that we use for our concrete production,” Vicary said. “The other 10 per cent is a coarse sand.”
ONE-STOP-SHOP TURNKEY In order to produce a premium quality construction sand for the Greater Sydney and NSW markets, Clarence Sands put out a tender for a sand washing plant. “The key requirement for us was the tonnage capacity per hour, and to be able to produce two different grade sands out of the one raw feed,” Vicary said. “We also needed to have a thickener that could process and handle the clay silts and fines that were being generated out of the washing process. The plant also had to be all automated. “In fact, while a competitive price was also important, what we really wanted was a onestop-shop turnkey. We didn’t want to have to deal with different suppliers providing us
a cyclone here, a vibrating screen there and a thickener tank separately,” he added. “We wanted one supplier to turn up on-site, build it, and hand it over, and that supplier would be responsible for everything in the plant. That was pretty important to us.” Clarence Sands purchased its 300-tonne per hour (tph) sand plant from Terex Washing Systems (TWS), the washing solutions subsidiary of Terex Material Processing Solutions (Terex MPS) globally and Terex Jaques in Australia. Ben Willcox, the Australian and New Zealand sales manager for Terex Washing Systems, said that Clarence Sands’ brief was relatively straightforward. “The challenge was the tonnage,” Willcox said. “It was a niche tonnage, so we called on the sister side of the business – the MPS side – to bring in a quarrying screen and then developed a rinser station to handle the tonnage. We redeveloped a 20’ x 8’ (6m x 2.4m) two-deck screen module, the largest we’ve done for this sort of operation. The benefit of this was we were able to minimise the footprint and cost. This plant is designed to pass the material over a single incline screen, and then split it into two grades of sand, which was a challenge in itself. The screen has a split bottom deck, so you’re taking the fine sand out of the top half of the bottom deck and then the coarse sand out of the bottom half of the same deck. It’s making two grades of sand over one deck. It’s capable of producing 2.5mm and 4.5mm grades of sand.” The Clarence Sands plant and circuit consists of two Finesmaster 200 sand recovery units, centrifugal slurry pumps, hydrocyclones and a dewatering screen on a single chassis. The Finesmaster is capable of recovering saleable material through the removal of silt, slimes and clays below 75 microns (or 200 mesh) and reclaiming up to two grades of sand from a wet feed or an optional bolt-on boiler box for a direct dry feed. The high frequency dewatering screen can reduce residual water content in the final product by between 85 and 90 per cent. It is complemented by a self-regulating cyclone tank and rubber-lined pumps. An electrical control panel and spraybars for dewatering stations are also options.
RAKE THICKENER The other challenge for Terex Washing Systems was contending with the volume of silts and the size of the thickener that was needed for the tonnage. “We chose a rake thickener, which
Quarry December 2021 19
SAND PROCESSING
Terex Washing Systems brought in a revamped 6m x 2.4m two-deck screen module to process the high tonnages of sand before sending it to the washer.
is certainly the largest in our range of thickeners,” Willcox said. “In fact, I don’t think anyone else in the industry has a thickener of that size. It’s 18m for the thickener.” A rake thickener is designed to specifically process high volumes of slurry. Its scrapers transport the material from the outskirts of the tank to the outlet, accelerating sludge removal from the thickener. The sludge output features between 30 and 40 per cent of solids content. Rake-style, high rate thickeners like the one employed at Clarence Sands allow for minimal feed height, thereby accelerating the gravity feed from upstream cyclonebased washing systems. Willcox said that, aside from the water tanks and the thickener, the plant is modular. The Finesmaster 200s in particular have an easy to assemble steel construction, complete with galvanised walkways and hand rails for easy access, and all electric plant can be pre-wired before assembly to control panels or isolators to integrate with other equipment. Willcox described the Clarence Sands plant as “a custom bespoke-able plant using standard items. It has the ability to wash and blend sand at multiple points, to give Clarence Sands the ability to meet their product requirements. The nature of the source material is the silt. We have five different points of washing silt out, so it’s very adaptable to the products”. A plant of this scale, Willcox added, could
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produce up to five products – two sand and three aggregates – if it was in the resource. However, due to the friability of the sand resource, the Clarence Sands plant is only producing the two products: a coarse sand and a fine sand. As a testament to its modularity, the units within the sand washing circuit – the Finesmaster 200s, the rake thickener and 6m x 2.4m incline screen – can operate independently. “If Peter was to sell the plant, we could break it up into individual items and sell them off, and most of them would be able to run by themselves,” Willcox said. “On this occasion, it’s a purpose-built plant, so we can meet any customer’s requirements with any piece of equipment.” The sand plant is fully automated and Clarence Sands employs one operator at a time – out of its seven-strong crew on the ground – to run the circuit. That person can monitor the plant’s progress from a mobile control centre over the course of the day.
COMMISSIONING CHALLENGES The automation capabilities of the Clarence Sands circuit are further made possible with the Terex Washing Systems 4 Site program. Initially launched at the Bauma construction show in Europe in 2016, 4 Site is a project management service which offers Terex Washing Systems customers enhanced levels of support at every aspect of their
The twin Finesmaster 200 sand recovery units.
operations – from set-up to commissioning to aftermarket. Three packages – silver, gold and platinum – are available to the client and each package incorporates four steps: appraisal, planning, support and installation. Willcox said 4 Site had been particularly useful as a remote assistance tool during installation. “COVID has posted some challenges for this plant but we’ve still been able to help get Clarence Sands operational as needed. On this occasion, 4 Site has worked really well, especially with the lockdown in NSW, so we’ve been able to dial into the plant and assess the diagnostics, and answer any questions of the operators. I can pull up the programmable logic controller (PLC) display of the plant at Clarence Sands and tell you how the sand plant is running right now. We have a clear view of what they can see on the panel and can help with making any changes required. It saves a customer callout. “The 4 Site program comes standard with any major plant,” Willcox added. “Typically if it is a smaller plant, there’s no real requirement for 4 Site. But when there are PLCs and water management involved, you need the ability to dial in and assist wherever needed. We can see the chemical usage, the water flow rates, and if a new operator comes on board, they can easily dial in.” Peter Vicary agreed that the 4 Site program was very helpful for troubleshooting – “If
we have a problem, we can get Ben on the phone and then in a few minutes he’s in the system helping us to rectify it” – and added that Terex Washing Systems service throughout the installation and commissioning of the plant was exceptional. “TWS’s service was great,” Vicary said. “Any time we needed them, they got onto things as quickly as the circumstances allowed them to. I think every quarry has its unique attributes and things that are unique to that resource, and Terex had to attune their plant to our resource, which I think they did in a reasonable period of time. “By the time we started commissioning the equipment, Ben was able to return to site and conduct live, on the job training with the new operators we recruited to run it.”
SPECS – TWS FINESMASTER 200C Max tonnage (tph)
200
Dewatering screen (m)
4.3 x 1.8
Hydrocyclone
2 x G4 - 660mm
Pump size (mm)
250/200
Pump power (kW)
45
Inlet flange (mm)
250
Outlet flange (mm)
300
Total power (kW)
57-64
Max height (m)
7.4
Max length (m)
7.7
Max width (m)
21
Inlet height tank waste outlet height (mm)
1299
Discharge height (mm)
1300
Source: Terex Washing Systems
FUTURE-PROOFED The Terex Washing Systems sand plant was commissioned in July 2021 and has been operating for nearly five months. Vicary has been very satisfied with its performance. “It’s fantastic. It’s doing 300 tph, all day, every day, and it’s making beautiful washed sand as well,” he said. “The water management system is really good as well. We dug some stuff out of our pond the other day – and it was thick enough that when we placed it above the ground, within five days you could push it up into a heap. That’s on top of lots of rainy weather. It’s going to make the pond an easier process because it’s all going to dry up once it’s above ground. It means the pond will dry quicker.” Vicary said there is scope for Clarence Sands to sell by-products from the pond silts and clays, potentially for applications in dam linings, dump cappings and landfill, but that the business’s priority is to produce the construction sand for WSC’s operations first and foremost. “We can grow into that plant,” he said. “It can process over a 12-hour shift more than 3600 tonnes per day, so we bought a plant big enough that we could grow into it as our customer demands increase. We’re futureproofed.” Vicary said he would recommend Terex Washing Systems to other quarrying producers, especially when it comes to local service. “My advice is to use someone that has local service technicians on the ground in your area, and aftermarket support and back-up,” he said. “During the commissioning process, we broke a few
things and Terex needed to fix some things, and the guys were only 90 minutes away and if we needed someone to come, they were here straight away. “I’ve heard stories of other companies not having that back-up service on the ground, and it can be a big problem. When you have the pressures of production and customer demands that you need to meet, and your plant goes down and people can’t get there for days to fix it, then that’s a big problem. So that’s important, you can’t afford to have a
plant break down and no one available to fix it. “We’ve been impressed and pleased with the whole process. When you’re building a complex wash plant, there is always going to be some difficulties to get through in the commissioning process, so it’s reassuring knowing that we have the back-up.” • To learn more about Clarence Sands, visit clarencesands.com For more information about Terex Washing Systems’ sand washing plant and equipment, visit terex.com/ washing/en/Australia
A high rate rake thickener was designed to specifically process high volumes of slurry.
Quarry December 2021 21
SAND PROCESSING
SAND BUSINESS PREPS FOR MODERN, INNOVATIVE CIRCUIT
A third generation family business with expertise in sand processing has signed off on a major order with a multinational OEM – and now is eagerly waiting for the project to come to fruition in 2022. PF Formation’s Luke Graham and CDE’s Jason Hartmann spoke to Quarry.
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F Formation is a third generation family business which has been trading since 1956. The company started in trucking and transport, with proprietor Glen Graham christening the business with the initials from his wife’s name – Patricia Fay. By 1983, the Grahams’ sons John and Paul had taken charge of PF Formation and begun extracting sand at Maroota, New South Wales, about 90km northwest of the Sydney CBD and on the outskirts of Greater Western Sydney. Initially, the Graham brothers partnered with the owner of Maroota sand operation Formation Civil Contracting. The partnership was short-lived and John and Paul took the operation on independently. Under John and Paul’s control PF Formation expanded with the establishment of a large concrete plant in Emu Plains and an ever growing fleet of trucks. With the third generation of Grahams eager to join the business, John and Paul thought it best to split the business in 2004, with Paul taking control of the transport and Emu Plains concrete operation and John taking control of the Maroota quarries and concrete
business. John’s sons Luke and Joshua assumed control of the business from 2016. Today, PF Formation operates three sand quarries in the Maroota region: Pit 4 quarry, located on Old Telegraph Road, which has approval to extract more than four million tonnes of sand over two decades; the Hitchcock Road sand extraction development, between Old Northern Road, Ferry Road and Hitchcock Road, which was approved by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment in 2009; and the Pit 5 quarry on Old Northern Road, which was granted a development consent by Hornsby Shire Council in 2009. PF Formation’s HQ is located at Patricia Fay Drive, where the company’s concrete plant and concrete truck fleet is located.
Between the three quarries, PF Formation has an output of half a million tonnes of sand per year. Its products – consisting of sands suitable for readymix concrete, mortar (bricklaying) sands compaction, trenching and pipe bedding sands – have all been used in numerous infrastructure projects. They include Canberra’s Department of Foreign Affairs building, the Olympic Games facilities at Homebush, Star City Casino, Sydney’s F2 motorway, the Northern Road Upgrade, and the Sydney Light Rail. PF Formation is currently tendering with construction engineers CPB for a contract with the Western Sydney Airport. For Luke Graham, who is now one of PF Formation’s managing directors, sand processing has been very prominent his whole life. His father John built the business’s first sand plant and Luke has worked across all three quarries, including building a 150 tonnes per hour (tph) customised sand washing plant himself on the Pit 5 Old Northern Road development. “The original wash plant was sold through Warman (now Weir), which did all the process engineering and sold my dad all of the equipment when he built his first plant,” Luke Graham told Quarry. “The wash plant
The CDE CFCU 200 installed as part of a circuit by Argentinian aggregates provider La Chola.
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was a pretty simple two-stage washing plant, it did 200 tph. The plant evolved quite a lot as different technologies came in, there have been a lot of build-ons and tack-ons. The site grew so large that it became logistically not feasible to transport sand to the wash plant. So we put in a slurry pumping station and pumped the sand 2.1km from the deposit to the processing area.”
TERTIARY SAND ‘GOLD MINE’ The Pit 5 Old Northern Road and Old Telegraph Road quarries each have 250,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) consents to extract friable sandstone. Both of the friable sandstone sites produce a combination of end products, including mortar sands for bricklaying as well as concrete sands to support the business’s concrete operations. “Mortar sands are a very big part of bricklaying and Maroota sands are very dominant in that space. If it’s not Maroota brickie sand, then you don’t lay a brick with
it!” Graham exclaimed. The Hitchcock Road quarry is by far the largest of the three quarries, and comprises a group of properties containing eight titles. The combined pits and adjoining parcels of land are on a mega-deposit with the potential to produce up to 400,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of both tertiary and friable sands. For PF Formation, this mega-deposit was almost the sand equivalent of striking gold. “The deposit that we process at the Hitchcock Road quarry is what’s they call a tertiary sand, it’s an ancient alluvial river bed that’s millions of years old, and it was caught in a high silica sandstone seam,” Luke Graham explained. “That’s what captured the deposit millions of years ago and kept it from eroding. It’s easy winning, very clean, and doesn’t require a lot of processing.” Graham explained the Pit 4 Old Telegraph Road site was acquired from Maroota Mining, a former competitor. The sale of the site included an old Coral Industries turnkey plant,
which “in the best case scenario”, Graham said, has an output of 60 tph. “I think the old owners were disappointed in the Coral plant’s throughput from the get-go,” he reflected. “In a way, however, it suited the deposit at the time – the pit wasn’t a massive deposit and the equipment was best suited to it.” Having combined the Maroota Mining site and and several newly acquired properties into one operation, and conscious of the mega-deposit at their disposal, Luke and Joshua Graham decided to purchase a new, modern washing sand plant to exploit the site’s potential. The consent they received for the combined site was 250,000 tpa. “We weren’t seeing anywhere near that potential,” Graham said. “The best output we were getting out of that quarry was about 80,000 tpa, pushing a 20-year washing plant with an output of 60 tph as hard we could. We set out originally to upgrade the old plant because we didn’t want to scrap it entirely. We saw potential in upgrading and making
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SAND PROCESSING
renowned for their cleanliness. Further, the tertiary sand, which is also clean, can be a lucrative venture and a viable alternative to the manufactured sands and crusher dusts that have been adopted as alternatives to the now defunct coarse river sand deposits. “It’s important we make our fine sands more compatible,” Graham explained. “It means we have to do more intensive processing to get our sands compatible with that coarse fine aggregate, and it’s why we’ve started experimenting with attrition cells and sand screws, and been looking at innovative, different ways to process our sand in order to grow into those markets.”
For PF Formation managing director Luke Graham, sand processing has been very prominent his whole life.
it bigger, better and badass but we quickly realised that renovations would not be the best way to go – it was more efficient to knock down and rebuild plus we believed we would have a better outcome. And because of the height of the demand of the Sydney market for sand, we decided to build a new plant while continuing to operate the old plant. The new plant is going to be matched to the deposit. “The other key factor with the site,” Graham added, “and something we’ve worked long and hard for, is the ability to import recycled materials and resource recovery materials. We effectively have a no sunset development application, with the condition that we can source usable materials for recycling. So we have a massive resource pool in the ground and there’s a future in recycling, reactivation materials and tunnel spoils as well.” Graham added that the Pit 4 Old Telegraph Road site is particularly important now because there is an opportunity for PF Formation, whose readymix concrete sand market has been its traditional “bread and butter”, to diversify its products and provide other quality sands to the Greater Sydney Region. It has already begun that process by taking advantage of its friable sands deposits, which are hard to wash but quite clean. Friable sands have the potential to be a “perfect” substitute for the exhausted deposits in the Penrith and Nepean Lakes regions, whose coarse river sands were
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DURABILITY, LONGEVITY When tendering for a supplier to provide a new washing system, Luke and Joshua Graham were very self-assured and direct. “We wanted to be confident that the plant was going to be durable and we wanted a long-term solution,” Luke Graham said. “We were looking for a plant that’s going to be in operation for many years. The durability was really important to us.
PF Formation’s point of contact at CDE has been Jason Hartmann, the company’s business development manager for Eastern Australia. He remarked that Luke and Josh Graham were both “very discerning characters” from the get-go. “They own three plants, they know what they like and what they don’t,” Hartmann said. The PF Formation story is a little unusual from other sand case studies covered in Quarry, as at the time of writing, the plant has been ordered but is still to be installed and commissioned. CDE and Luke Graham himself were keen to discuss the early development of the new plant, which will not be actively running until the last quarter of 2022, with the view to highlighting the project from inception to completion. “It’s a very bespoke plant,” Hartmann said of the design on order. “It consists of standard CDE modules, but tinkered with a lot to exactly what Luke and Josh are after. I think we’ve ironed out everything, it’s been a pretty extensive process and there’s been a lot of collaborative design reviews. We’ve been through the process with them and
A 3D render of the PF Formation sand washing plant featuring the L45 feed hopper, a P2-108 scalping screen over a large sump, an EvoWash, attrition cells, and CFCU and AquaCycle modules.
“When CDE took us around the country and showed us some of its plants, we saw a lot of things that we liked and a couple of things that we didn’t. CDE catered for us by listening to our concerns and they were open to new ideas and innovations. Even when we had specific requirements, their guys took it on board. They also had good items to raise about the pros and cons of the project and they were open to hearing why I wanted something done my way, or to be tailored specifically to our needs. That’s what set CDE apart from their competitors for us, how they catered for our needs.”
they’ve seen all our gear. The plant will come together nicely on-site. I don’t expect many challenges at the commissioning stage.” Hartmann said the new sand and gravel wash plant consists of largely “standard gear but at the front end of the plant Luke and Josh wanted a different arrangement to our normal M-series. What we’ve done is put a screen over the top of a large sump, which is typically a dredge-type application, but given the throughput that PF want to achieve then really having a decent size sump at the front end works quite well”. Hartmann said the plant will consist of
an EvoWash unit with an additional set of cyclones, which are configured slightly differently to a standard unit, cyclones for desliming and increasing density, and ShearClean attrition cells for breaking up that material and liberating fines, aided by a density control and a by-pass capacity for less demanding uses of the end product. “At the back end,” he continued, “there are up-current classifiers – the dual CFCU modules – that polish the product, and allow it to achieve that really high specification Sydney market sand. The CFCU modules also achieve the final product dewatering. There’s some pretty cool functionality in the plant, in terms of the attrition cell bypass to make that dirtier product when it’s required, such as compaction and trenching sands, so we’ve already built in capability for the plant to make that material. The plant will be able to make a really clean, high-spec material or when the market requires it, it can be configured to develop the heavier trenching sand.”
While the plant is modular in design, the equipment will be delivered in module containers. Hartmann said the plant itself will be fixed and installed on a slab. “It will be built in the factory and many base elements such as the EvoWash and the attrition cells will arrive to site as complete as possible and lifted into place,” he said. “After that point, walkways, ladders, steps and other components will be connected. Modular design means it can be assembled on-site quite quickly.”
LIGHTSPEED OVERDRIVE Luke Graham is excited by the prospect of the plant’s features which are going to be light years ahead of the old, improvised plants on his other quarry sites. “It’s going to be a fully automated plant, and will rely on the programmable logic controllers (PLC) and the human machine interface (HMI) to operate,” he said. “There are too many functions for it to operate in a manual mode, it’s going to
rely on the programming and the brains of the PLC to get all the components to work together. It will have self-monitoring functions, where it controls feed breaks and water flows to meet our requirements. The key thing is the way it monitors the density in the attrition circuit. It’s not something that can be done manually, it will rely on sensors and on feedback from the torque that’s generated to turn the attrition cells, and tiny, instantaneous adjustments by the computer. “And that’s the same with the tailings treatment as well, there’s no possible way it can be operated manually, again because of its density. Pump speeds can be varied, and dump times, durations can be varied, the floc dosage rates, it’s all live because every bucket of sand that’s poured into it can be different from the one before it. It will be changing minute by minute, and this plant is so sophisticated and clever that it can adapt and make those changes instantly to meet all of our product requirements.”
SAND PROCESSING
A second 3D render of the PF Formation sand washing plant, with dual CFCU products.
By comparison, Graham added, the equivalent of the AquaCycle on PF Formation’s old plants – the thickeners – are chalk and cheese. “We have thickeners in our plants, and we use polymer dosing units, but they don’t have the AquaCycle’s autonomous capacity, they’re ‘set and forget’, and there are major shortfalls, so we waste a lot of product and have lots of overs.” Graham also expressed confidence that the processes engineered into the plant will exceed the usual expectations of a construction sand plant. “It’s going to set our products well and truly ahead of our competitors,” he said. “Our final product is going to be really high demand. It will meet what the Sydney market is calling for. It will allow our customers to use more of their own manufactured sand. The CFCU is the culmination of all the processes, it’s that final polish, it’s the desliming through the attrition circuit. There are so many stages of washing and so many different types of processing to get the product to this super high quality state. “The quality of the end product has been our key consideration from the beginning of this project,” Graham said. “Josh and I weren’t motivated by massive volumes, our focus was on quality and what we had to do to process our sands to get that high level.” Hartmann told Quarry there will be a threemonth build for the new sand plant, followed by two to three weeks of commissioning time. Training will also be incorporated into the build and commission process. “We’ll have guys there building the plant and at the same time Luke and his operators will be involved at some level, to get a familiarisation of the plant as it’s assembled and certainly during commissioning. We’ll then be back several times over the following year (2023) – about three or four times – to ensure the plant is working perfectly and address any maintenance queries the operators may have,” he said. PF Formation is anticipating a delay in site civils which means the construction and commissioning process may not occur until later in 2022. “We’re building the plant on top of a reclaimed silt pond,” Graham explained,
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Quarry December 2021
“which seemed like a fabulous idea at the time because it doesn’t isolate any of our resources and it geographically works in the quarry, especially because the loading area is so close to the road, our customers’ trucks will be in and out in no time. However, there’s some engineering dilemmas building a plant of this scale on top of a reclaimed silt pond. “We’re going to have do some specialised load testing but it’s adding some costs to the site civils,” he continued. “We have to bring in some specialised tech equipment for load testing, shear vane testing and Shelby tube sampling. The engineers have a greater understanding of the substructures and they can devise engineering solutions to accommodate the loads that will be imposed by the plant. “The plant and its components will arrive from April next year but we won’t have the concrete slab ready at that point because of these engineering issues. We will have the plant commissioned by the end of 2022.”
THE MAGIC PUDDING Graham said that while the plant is still 12 months away, he and his brother are pleased with the project’s progress. “Obviously the whole journey with Jason and CDE has been really good,” he declared. “From my perspective, I’ve enjoyed it, Jason has facilitated all of our wants and needs, he’s answered all of our concerns. Jason has a really good technical background as well. But the plant hasn’t made one grain of sand yet so the proof is going to be in the pudding. For me, our focus has been on the quality, so it’s going to be fascinating to see all this planning and technology come together and deliver us a product that is far superior to anything else in the Sydney market.” Hartmann has little doubt that his company can – and will – deliver an outstanding plant. “I feel much the same as Luke. I want to see the plant come to life and I want to see it take a challenging feed and create a really high-spec product. “Most importantly, it’s going to be all OEM kit – from the feed receival hopper to the product stacking,” he added. “We design and integrate
and deliver the whole thing. Not a lot of other people can necessarily do that. It helps give Luke and Josh faith that we can be relied upon. We’ll own it all the way through to producing that high-spec sand that Luke and Josh want.” “CDE have written performance guarantees into our supply contract to assure us that this equipment will perform to this standard,” Graham added. “It gives me and Josh a lot of comfort to proceed with the investment. Collaboratively, everyone [from PF Formation and CDE] has invested into it. The engineers and the process guys all had something to contribute, which makes this plant so interesting and unique.” Beyond 2022, PF Formation has no immediate plans to upgrade all of its sand operations. The old sand plants in the other quarries will continue to process friable
ERIEZ
CrossFlow Classifier sandstone while the company ensures the new CDE plant lives up to its high expectations. “Obviously we need to get this project up and running and we need proof these technologies are as effective as we believe they are, and when our projects can cater for it, we would consider buying more CDE gear and adapting it to our existing plants,” Luke Graham said. However, he does not rule out further modifications to the Pit 4 quarry. “The friable sandstone has to be all crushed,” he explained. “We’re using mobile crushing equipment to do all our pre-screening and crushing and pre-conditioning for the wash plant. Something we considered when we just approved the switchboard and the new power supply is to have the capacity later to add a fixed crushing plant to feed the circuit. It’s not in the budget this time round but it’s been timed and configured on the side. “We have the real estate and the capacity to add a fixed crushing circuit at a later stage, maybe five years down the track. We don’t want to cut any corners with the washing, though. We know we can do it tough with our mobile gear – we have
seven mobile crushers – so we’re confident that we can achieve the throughputs and outputs with the equipment that we have.” Luke Graham’s advice for other quarrying producers keen to install a washing circuit is to do their due diligence. “These plants obviously represent a significant investment,” he said. “Every site is different, so every business needs to be clear about their expectations and do their research. “They need to see other examples and plants, compare how other operators are doing it, and speak and communicate with the other operators, and find out what their shortfalls were, what works and what doesn’t for their operations. “It’s a lengthy process and someone’s got to be prepared to do the investigation. For me, it was a no-brainer, I was very careful about what we could spend on this plant and I wanted enough information to make the right choices.”•
Cuts Coarser than Cyclones and Finer than Screens
For more information about PF Formation, visit pfformation.com.au For more information about CDE washing plants and products, visit cdegroup.com
Feed material (2 mm x 0) cut at 400 micron. Weight split roughly 50:50.
CrossFlow Advantages:
• High Volume • Low Water Consumption • No Power Requirement • Small Footprint • Sharp Cuts
Another Australian sand washing plant set-up in Kingscliff, Northern NSW.
Contact Eriez Magnetics Pty Ltd Eriez Flotation 61 3 8401 7400 or visit efdau@eriez.com / EriezFlotation.com
SAND PROCESSING
‘MAGNIFICENT’ SERVICE
ATTRACTS CUSTOMERS – AND METALS Magnetic separation keeps product clean and prevents tramp metals from causing damage and breakdowns in crushers and screens. As Eriez Australia’s Ezio Viti explains, quarry operations have numerous options to combat unwanted tramp metals, contaminants and downtime.
E
riez Magnetics has developed a global presence in removing unwanted contaminants from valuable materials conveyed across the extractive industries. Since 1942, Eriez has perfected the science of magnetic separation for a loyal customer base. Part of this has involved the provision of honest on-site feedback about how quarried aggregates, for example, can be beneficiated with electromagnetic and permanent magnets. Of course, no one quarry site is the same, and in understanding this Eriez treats each application on its merit. Eriez Australia sales director Ezio Viti explained the approach taken to ensure each customer gets the most out of their magnets. “There are a lot of factors to consider, including the size and shape of the contaminant in the conveyed material, to ultimately determine the magnet size and type,” Viti told Quarry. “The rule of thumb is the smaller the contaminant, the larger the magnet. “The next criteria are the dimensions of the belt and the size and shape of the conveyed material. We also assess whether the customer wants a manual or self-cleaning magnet. And the greatest factor in terms of magnet strength is its location.” Location, size, shape, power consumption, self-cleaning – all considerations which could easily fly over the head of plenty of quarry managers. Therefore, Eriez takes pride in meeting in-person (taking into account COVID-19 risks) to catch any missed information and provide a clear explanation.
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Suspended magnets in a mobile circuit.
Viti said an open dialogue between Eriez technicians and their customers is key to successful and effective magnet ownership. “The most important thing about the Eriez service is the feedback, going both ways,” Viti said. “Nothing’s more impressive than gaining loyalty from customers. Loyalty spawns from our performance and if we can’t perform then we don’t deserve any support. We’ve won customers based on that loyalty and continue to do so.” With strong rapport and expertise, there’s scarcely been an issue of separation and filtration that Eriez couldn’t accommodate. On a project in Tasmania that purifies silica down to about 100 parts per million, Eriez was able to supply its magnetic filters and rare earth grates to clean fine silica sand before it is shipped overseas to be milled into silica flour for use in various high quality touch screens. “Our grates are basically a permanent magnet grate with a number of stainlesssteel tubes which encase a combination of mild steel poles and rare earth magnets,” Viti explained. “The design concentrates the magnetic field to attract and retain the finest of
contaminants in the product flow. “This is equally useful in applications like clay operations where the final products are used as additives in paints, cosmetics or toothpaste where the occurrence of iron contaminants render them unusable.”
OLD FOR NEW Aside from adding value to operations through product beneficiation, Eriez can also add value in its aftersales service too. Viti recounted a time where this service was of value to an Australian household name. “A major construction materials company had one of our magnets which was superseded due to an upgrade in application,” he said. “We offered them a deal where instead of simply removing the old magnet from their operation and having it potentially discarded, we offered to buy the old product back for repurposing.” Viti was proud of Eriez’s ability to provide service support from end to end, adding value all along the customer’s process chain. “We can look further down the track and if a customer’s plant, product or process has
An SE magnet before and after refurbishment. Ezio Viti says it is entirely plausible for an old magnet to be reused on a smaller application elsewhere in an operation.
changed, we can move with these changes and cater for any evolutionary needs,” he said. “In some cases, a seemingly old magnet destined for the scrap heap can be reused as a scavenger or smaller application elsewhere in the process.” Eriez understands the customer’s greatest fear in operation is downtime – time and money spent getting nothing in return. To avoid this, the company provides a solution to maximise any operation’s profitability. “If they have a breakdown, we can ship and swap them a temporary second-hand
magnet while we refurbish their main unit back to as-new condition,” Viti said. “And while the second-hand magnet may not fulfil the complete duty, it will remove the need for their plant to stay down for longer than necessary, allowing the operator to keep producing.”
LONG-TERM AMBITION With the short-term covered by proficient service support, Eriez continues to look at the long-term evolution of magnetic separation. The 7000 series electromagnetic model was introduced into Australia four years ago
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after more than 20 years of service in North America to replace the 700 series. But now, a new generation of Eriez electromagnet will be creeping into the market and Viti said Eriez is right on top of these new developments. “By replacing the 700 series, the 7000 series globalised and standardised our product range while also bringing with it a streamlined manufacturing process to allow for more reliable lead times and regulated pricing,” Viti said. “But the mainstream 7000 is reaching the end of its design evolution and will need to be superseded. We have listened to our customers and will focus on enhancements to performance improvements, efficient use of energy and with the aim delivering sensible pricing outcomes as well. “We’re looking forward to the next 25 years and I can tell you that it looks absolutely brilliant.”• For further information about Eriez Australia’s magnetic separators and services, visit eriez.com.au
CRUSHING
MOBILE CIRCUIT BOOSTS OUTPUT OF BAROSSA VALLEY QUARRY
In the past 12 months, a trio of modern mobile crushing and screening units have helped a site improve its productivity and deliver vital materials to its parent company’s operations.
S
eelander Quarry is located in Penrice, in the heart of South Australia’s famous Barossa Valley. The exclusive 14-hectare quarry has been operating since 1950 and officially was branded as Seelander Quarries when operator Mick Seelander bought the site in 2002. The site was acquired in 2016 by the Femia family group, which has considerable quarrying and concrete interests in South Australia. These include Premix Concrete SA (comprising three plants, a fleet of 30 concrete trucks, a cement tanker, three tipper trucks, and a laboratory), Clinton Sands on the Yorke Peninsula, Adelaide Industrial Sands (AIS, whose sands are extracted from Clinton Sands), and Cast-A-Pebble, a subsidiary of AIS which sells decorative pebbles and white quartz for landscaping supplies. Seelander Quarry, which has a crew of seven on-site, including a quarry manager and three in production, is extracting aggregates from a deposit of a combination of white and blue marble, a hard mica
bluestone and a marble limestone. “One of the products is a Seelander blend of the white and the blue, which goes into concrete mixes, and the blue tends to be diving under the white in some places,” explained quarry manager Lance Sorson, a 40-year quarry veteran who has only been in charge of the site since September this year. “We do traditional quarry methods, including drill and blast, and we chase both the white and the blue. A lot of it goes into concrete mixes and style crete as well.” In fact, Seelander Quarries predominantly produces its materials for Premix Concrete SA and the stone is very specific for its concrete batch plant requirements. “We produce traditional sizes, including 20/10, 10mm, 7mm concrete aggregates, sand as a by-product, and some of it goes to landscape yards, in terms of colours, but mainly we operate to support our premix business,” Sorson added. “We’re not a large operation. We’re comfortable with an output of about 150,000 tonnes per annum.”
The newly-arrived Sandvik QJ341 jaw (right) feeds the QI442 impactor (centre) at Seelander Quarry.
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DEFINED MOBILE PLANT One of the major changes that the Femia family implemented upon acquiring Seelander Quarry was dispensing with an ageing fixed crushing plant and introducing modern mobile crushers and screens and a fleet of the latest model front end loaders to undertake processing of aggregates on the site. In the past five years crushing and screening has been undertaken by a relatively simple arrangement of a mobile impact crusher feeding a portable screen. This became unsustainable for the quarry to meet its sister company’s needs, so the decision was made by Seelander Quarries and Premix Concrete SA’s managing director Frank Femia to upgrade its inventory. Enter Tim Sharrad, the territory manager for Porter Equipment Australia, based in Adelaide. “I first met Frank Femia in December 2019 and we got talking from there,” he recalled. “In late May, early June of 2020, Frank purchased a Hyundai loader from us for Adelaide Industrial Sands and from there our discussions turned to Seelander and its requirements. Frank had some plant that was due to be replaced, and wanted more quantity and reliability.” To determine the right type of plant for the deposit, Porter arranged for some of Seelander Quarry’s blasted rock samples to be forwarded to Sandvik HQ’s laboratory in Svedala, Sweden. This enabled Porter to input the material samples into Sandvik’s plant design and compare against thousands of material samples to better predict capacity and wear rates within the crushing chamber. Once the data was collated, Porter and Seelander Quarries collaborated on accurate portable plant designs. The plant that touched down at Seelander Quarries after August 2020 were two Sandvik mobile machines: a QA451 Doublescreen and a QI442DDHS impact crusher. “Historically, we were replacing an impact crusher so they wanted to maintain
some rock shape,” Sharrad said. “Shape is extremely important to them.” The QA451 sizing screen is fitted with Sandvik’s Doublescreen system which utilises two 3m x 1.5m, triple-deck high velocity screenboxes (1200mm rotations per minute shaft speed) in the one machine. The primary screenbox acts as a fines extractor and the secondary box as a grader. The Doublescreen system can produce up to 30 per cent more volumes of in-spec material than conventional incline screens working in the same footprint. The QA451 also has the benefit of a 6.15 g-force which effectively moves and separates the material. The 68-tonne QI442DDHS impact crusher can operate in both primary and secondary applications. It is equipped with the fourblowbar CI621 Prisec horizontal shaft impact crusher, with a feed opening of 1360mm x 800mm, a maximum feed size of 800mm, and a 328kW Caterpillar C13 engine. Other features include a hydraulic raise/ lower product conveyor to prevent rebar obstruction, a double-deck pre-screen for accurate fines removal, a new rotor position and locking device, new hammer locking wedges for quicker removal and fitting, and a wedge removal tool for safer installation and detachment. There is also the optional detachable double-deck hanging screen able to recirculate oversize and/or provide up to three stockpiles. More recently, Seelander Quarries acquired its third Sandvik mobile unit: a QJ341. “Frank always had plans to use the jaw crusher as a primary before the impactor because you can break the material down better with the jaw in front,” Sharrad added. The QJ341 primary jaw crusher incorporates a 1200mm x 750mm single toggle jaw crusher with hydraulic adjustable closed side setting (CSS) that can accept up to 650mm into the chamber. Its hydrostatic drive enables reverse function for safe unblocking and the ability to restart with a full chamber, and a jaw level sensor regulates material flow into the chamber. Sharrad said all three Sandvik mobiles can crush and screen separately or be used in a train. “The jaw feeds the impactor feeds the screen,” he said. “But if you just want to clean crushed fines, you can run them through the screen. You can run them individually. “The use of the impactor is to get a specific shape. It’s a great all-round machine, , often used in other applications like recycling. The hanging screen enables you to recirculate
The QI442DDHS is equipped with the Prisec horizontal shaft impact crusher and a 328kW Cat C13 engine.
material or stockpile as you can also run the conveyor at 90 degrees.”
year MyFleet telematics fleet subscription to monitor key metrics and schedule servicing.
INCREASED RELIABILITY Sorson said the addition of the QJ341 to the crushing and screening mix had significantly improved Seelander Quarry’s output in recent months. “The addition of the jaw and the conversion of the impactor to a secondary has helped the reliability tenfold. It’s smoothed out the humps. The impact crusher was the primary and secondary crusher all in one, and while it worked well, I would say it’s a far better circuit now with the jaw in there. “Further, going back even 12 months, all three Sandvik machines have certainly outperformed the old ones. They are each pulling 20 to 30 tonnes per hour more than the previous models. I also shouldn’t forget my own small crew, who have done an excellent job of pushing out the tonnes.” Sorson also praised the programmable logic controller (PLC) and other automation features of the mobile units. “The feeder has a remote the operator can use if he needs it and we’ve just ordered a communications cable between the two crushers to facilitate smoother processing. The PLC has enough brains behind it to know when to stop taking more rocks and the feeder works off load amps. It’s a fairly straightforward, user-friendly system. All information and diagnostics are available on a screen. It’s really a ‘set and forget’ system. The only time you really need to inspect the system is if it stops, so it’s very clever from an electronics point of view.” Seelander Quarries selected Sandvik’s Security Plus program, which provides additional warranty cover on some of the equipment. The company opted for the silver and gold service agreements, with coverage of two years/3000 hours and three years/6000 hours respectively. It also took out a seven-
COMPLIMENTS AND CAFFEINE Sorson said he was pleased with Porter’s service and support, and had kind words for Tim Sharrad. “Tim’s really good, a good listener and he’s open-minded. Porter is relatively new in Adelaide, but they’ve been excellent, particularly in terms of support. At this stage of the purchase, I’d happily recommend Porter and Sandvik gear to other quarries or contractors. If there’s a complaint I have about Tim,” he joked, “it’s that he never brings me coffee each time he visits the site!” Sharrad said that feedback from Seelander Quarries had also been positive. “From a production point of view, they’ve certainly increased their productivity with the QJ341 and at the same time they’ve maintained their rock shape, which is paramount for them. We’ve had some great upside. Lance hasn’t been there long but he has been a pleasure to work with. He determined that the jaw was the right tool for the job. “For me on a personal level, dealing with Lance, and Frank and his team across all of the divisions has been a pleasure. We’ve worked well together on some service issues. We are delivering a screen for the Clinton Sands Quarry at the moment – a Sandvik QA441 double-deck screen, which is the same as the QA451 at Seelander but with a double-deck Doublescreen, not a triple-deck.” And Sharrad acknowledged he had been remiss on the coffee. “I’ll have to take one out to Lance next time!” he laughed. • For more information about Seelander Quarries and the other divisions of the Femia family group of companies, visit seelanderquarries.com.au For more information about Sandvik mobile crushers and screens available through Porter Equipment, visit porterce.com.au
Quarry December 2021 31
CRUSHING
TERTIARY CONE CIRCUIT
DELIVERS MORE OUTPUT, LESS RECIRC A US quarry operation has recorded some very strong results since it upgraded its tertiary plant to incorporate a late model cone crusher.
M
aintaining optimum yield from any cone crushing circuit is ultimately achieved by combining the latest cone crushing technology with solid application expertise and highly responsive equipment life cycle management. The latter is essential when finetuning a crushing circuit for peak performance – and it’s best driven by an ongoing producer/equipment manufacturer “partnership” that ensures the highest production capacities and the lowest percentage of recirculating loads. Circuits with high recirculating loads eat up more capacity and horsepower in the crusher,
while also increasing wear – and unnecessary recirculating loads send saleable material back to the crusher rather than to the finished product stockpile. Minimising recirculating loads is an imperative for producers such as the RiverStone Group, which operates 15 active quarries throughout Iowa and Illinois in the United States. As a family-owned business since the late 19th century, the company prides itself on pushing the envelope in productivity and innovation. RiverStone is known for its abundance of Class A quality stone products which meet stringent US
At its Colona, Illinois-based Cleveland Quarry, RiverStone upgraded its plant with higher capacity primary and secondary crushers.
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Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation and Administration quality assurance standards. At its Colona, Illinois-based Cleveland Quarry, RiverStone upgraded its plant with higher capacity primary and secondary crushers. For an optimum yield of finished product at its tertiary circuit, the company installed a P600 Patriot cone crusher manufactured by Superior Industries. The result has been greater plant uptime, longterm efficiency, reduced wear costs, minimal recirculation load, and increased production capacities at lower costs per tonne. Delivering
a speedy return on investment, the site has nearly doubled its tonnes per hour (tph) output since the installation of the new crushers.
MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY RiverStone’s vice president Mike Ellis has calculated the circulating load ratios of the Patriot cone. He reported that at a closed side setting (CSS) of 25mm (or one inch), the cone processes finished product at a 78 per cent throughput, and at a 13mm (or ½-inch) closed side setting (CSS), the throughput percentage reaches a high of 83 per cent. “We’re getting maximum efficiency, and very little recirculating load, while averaging 80 per cent of our crushed material going directly out to the finished, saleable product stockpile,” Ellis said. He attributed this efficiency partly to the cone’s spiral tooth bevel gearing system, which “engages more gradually, giving an efficient transfer of horsepower to the rock, rather than to the structure of the machine”. As a result, the cone is proven to perform at higher speeds with less noise and vibration. “With its uptime and availability at more than 97 per cent, the Patriot Cone maximises our production of Class A quality concrete stone and asphalt chips,” Ellis added. “Before we added all the new crushers, we ran at just over 400 tph. Now we’re running steady at 800 tph due to our crushing advancements.” NEXT LEVEL CRUSHER TECHNOLOGY Ellis said the design improvements on the Patriot cone crusher make it far more durable, reliable and user-friendly than older style cones. Unlike most crusher models, he observed, the Patriot cone’s counter-shaft spins in a counter-clockwise rotation, which causes the crusher to open if clamping pressure is lost, and reduces the risk of catastrophic failure. “This feature literally saved us last production season when a simple solenoid valve failed and would not reset the clamp pressure,” Ellis explained. “The counterclockwise rotation allowed the cone to open, preventing any damage to internal components. When older style cones lose clamp pressure, the bowl tightens down, often snapping the shaft and leading to machine failure.” Another feature that prevents costly damage to the Patriot cone’s crushing chamber is a unique tramp relief system. “First, it’s designed with fewer accumulators for minimised maintenance, but most important is the inclusion of a secondary pressure relief
For an optimum yield of finished product at its tertiary circuit, the company installed a P600 Patriot cone crusher.
frame, eccentric and clamp ring, and bowl castings. We’ve made sure it will withstand the toughest applications,” he said.
The site has nearly doubled its output since the installation of the new crushers.
valve that ensures the crusher will open if a tramp event occurs,” said Superior Industries crushing product champion Mike Schultz. “This means that even if an accumulator fails, the secondary relief valve will provide immediate pressure relief, allowing the crusher to open.” Schultz also pointed to the inverted design of the tramp release cylinders where the hydraulic cylinder rod seal is not exposed during operation, greatly reducing the potential of contamination and failure. Schultz, who brought more than two decades of crushing industry experience to the Superior Industries team of crushing application engineers and service technicians, added that the Patriot cone is more robust than the typical cone. “It’s beefed up to increase the strength of the unit with a heavier duty adjustment ring, base
MONITORING VITAL FUNCTIONS An in-house cone crusher automation package – Vantage Automation – is also a significant part of the Patriot Series. “It’s completely built in-house by the Superior Industries team with no third parties involved, allowing one-call service and support, and offering a complete automation package that is far more affordable than competitive systems,” Schultz explained. Vantage Automation monitors all of the crusher’s vital functions. “Operators can track or trend just about anything,” Schultz said. “An automation package should be simple and easy to use. Importantly, it acts as a warning system that alerts operators to conditions such as bowl float, excessive amperage or temperatures, and lubrication or low-flow oil issues. “Our mission is sharing hands-on expertise and partnering with producers throughout the life cycle of the plant and its components,” he added. “It’s such an advantage to rely upon the knowledge of the equipment manufacturer,” Ellis said. “The product and parts support is excellent, and the Patriot Cone does just what it’s designed to do.”. • For more information about Superior Industries’ Patriot cone crusher range and Vantage Automation, visit superior-ind.com For further inquiries in Australia about Superior products, visit triconequipment.com.au and 888cse.com.au
Quarry December 2021 33
LOAD & HAUL
THE NEW OL’ RELIABLE
MECHANICAL WHEEL LOADER
This tried and true articulated wheel loader has been invaluable for an independent contractor in Central Queensland. Ideal for the traditionalist without a second to spare, the YX667 is a well put together machine.
O
lympus Equipment Sales has established a specialised loader assembly facility in Loganholme, Queensland, where brands like Cummins, ZF and Meritor are combined for highly reliable machinery. One of the bright orange workhorses it has sold across Australia’s eastern seaboard is the 20.5-tonne YX667 articulated wheel loader. With a rated load of six tonnes and a Cummins 6CTA8.3 engine capable of 179 kilowatts (240 horsepower), the YX667 satisfies every need asked of it by rural contractor Nathan McFadzens. The one-man show conducts his fair share of gravel work across Central Queensland, digging test holes, clearing pits, stockpiling, and backfilling to bring sites back to a natural state. After three years of hard work with the YX667, McFadzens has scarcely had any issues, owing to its simplicity. “Reliability is super important to my business,” McFadzens told Quarry. “With the new electronics that have come into all of that top-end machinery, trying to get a service out west is almost impossible.”
As a qualified diesel mechanic, the contractor has made a living off knowing the ins and outs of fully mechanical machinery like the YX667. He says the simple mechanical design of this model allows him to maintain uptime working in the remote Queensland outback. “Of course, the transmission is electronic because there isn’t really one you can buy that isn’t. But motor-wise, for ease of mechanical fault finding, it was one of the best I could find,” he said. “If it breaks down, I can fix it on-site in an hour or two. Whereas, if I had a high-end machine with the full electronic set-up out in rural Queensland, I could be down for days.”
IMPROVED BOTTOM LINE McFadzens wasn’t always an Olympus man, though. His business had been loyal to a rival manufacturer for years before he came across the YX667 in March of 2018. But after plenty of research, he realised his business could improve its bottom line with a switch to this new model. “I went looking around at all the loaders from a range of major brands from different countries, but after considering the value for money, set-ups and construction of each, the Olympus loaders were the heaviest machine
I could find in that horsepower range,” McFadzens said. “When you’re contracting in the rural industry as I am, everything is pretty cut-through. You’ve got to do the best quality of work for the smallest amount of money to ensure you can keep operating.” For fuel economy, the YX667 can manage heavy loads at 24 litres per hour, while general earthworks will use about 20 to 22 litres per hour, according to McFadzens. If ever an issue occurred in outback Queensland, McFadzens said Olympus general manager Simon Collin and his team had it covered in no time. “They’re really good to me. I’ve never had a problem with Simon and he seems to be able to get parts out to me pretty well straight away,” McFadzens said. “If not, he can tell you exactly how long they’ll take to come in. “He also has a spare parts inventory, plus a lot of the parts on this machine are backed by international component suppliers like Cummins, ZF and Meritor. This means the parts are transferrable with common machines from other manufacturers, making their replacement even easier.” Adding to its productivity, the YX667 comes with the ability to hydraulically switch
The YX667 is a heavy-duty machine suited to many applications.
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SPECS – OLYMPUS YX667 WHEEL LOADER
attachments in a matter of seconds. From one bucket size to another, or maybe a forklift to an auger, depending on the job description, the YX667 powers the bulk of numerous industries. This capability makes the unit well suited to quarrying applications or as a rural contractor like McFadzens where jobs can change daily. Collin said the fully mechanical design that McFadzens valued allowed the YX667 to cope in the harshest of environments. “With optional mechanical or common rail engines, manual or electric transmissions, and with all loaders built with over size cooling systems, they’re well suited to handle our extreme conditions,” Collin said. “These loaders are also exported to Saudi Arabia where they work in extreme heat and dirt.” With warranties from two to five years, owners of the YX667 should have no issue getting a strong life out of their investment. This is proven by the breadth of ownership
Overall weight
20.5 tonnes
LxWxH
8725mm x 3080mm x 3500mm
Bucket capacity
3.5m3-4.5m3
Rated load
6 tonnes
Maximum dump height
3300mm
Engine
Cummins 6CTA8.3 (179kW@2400rpm)
Transmission system
ZF transmission, electronic powershift, four forward, three reverse gear shift
Hydraulic system
Working pressure 18mpa, 4.8-second boom lifting time
Steering system
Load sensing, hydraulic steering, 7088mm turning radius
Tyres
26.5-25 (Standard)
Standard bucket width
3080mm
Other features
ROPS certified cabin, modern controls, braking system, multipurpose handling tool
Source: Olympus Loaders
across Australia, Collin said. “We assemble and pre-deliver locally for extra product control to assure the loader is always ready to go to work,” Collin said. “Our products are everywhere from Mt Isa in Queensland all the way down to the
Ayre Peninsula in South Australia for grain suppliers, quarries and crushing plants, and land clearing.” • For more information about the Olympus YX677 and other articulated wheel loaders, visit olympusloaders.com.au
Since 1989 Red Star has been devoted to wire cloth and screen media production in China, and is renowned for its high durability, precision and impactresistant products, which have been widely implemented by clients across US, Europe, Australia and the MiddleEast. As of 2016, Ying Hui and Red Star have set up a joint venture warehouse in Melbourne, in order to provide the quickest response time to meet all the demands of our Australian customers. Visit our mobile-friendly website to check stock and order efficiently. We help your business run faster.
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LOAD & HAUL
CLOUD-BASED PROGRAM
OFFERS MORE PRODUCTIVITY ON-SITE
An earthmoving OEM’s telematics and machine data system has made its mark on the global quarrying landscape, and is being increasingly taken up in Australia. Caterpillar’s Kit Kyarsgaard tells Quarry all about Cat Productivity.
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o matter the profession, work is about achieving results – and improvements. Even if a task is satisfactorily completed, there is scope to review and determine how it can be bettered. A holistic view of an organisation will encompass multiple tasks, some which may be related or integrate. How effectively do these tasks affect the organisation’s productivity? And what can be done to improve their functionality and outcomes to wholly benefit it? Kit Kyarsgaard has spent the best part of 21 years with global earthmoving original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Caterpillar – and has pondered some of these questions more specifically for quarrying operations in a variety of roles. Indeed, more than two decades with the same company has enabled him to better understand the needs and wants of aggregate businesses the world over. When Kyarsgaard started his career for Caterpillar in Peoria, Illinois, USA in 2000, little did he know he was embarking on a journey that would see him work in marketing and sales representative roles for Caterpillar’s northwest region (Alaska, Idaho, Washington, Montana and Oregon) and Texas and Louisiana in the rebuilding period after the devastating impact
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of Hurricane Katrina. He spent time as a Cat system applications analyst in Houston, Texas which he said helped him develop a solid understanding of Caterpillar’s customers, eg “Understanding how they use our products, helping them to justify the right fleet or right systems approach, how to move equipment more efficiently, drive and show them value, and understand from our customers how they make money. What do they do with our products to drive and increase their bottom lines?” From 2011, Kyarsgaard was the regional products application specialist for excavators, based in Singapore, where he covered South East Asia, India and Australia. “That was an awesome experience, I learned a lot about the different regions and territories,” he told Quarry. “In the Asia-Pacific region, operations are powered by the costs per hour or costs per tonne, and in Australia the cost of the job justifies the efficiencies. It was interesting to learn about the life cycle value and performance of customers, to understand their thoughts.” Kyarsgaard was subsequently elevated to the position of global products applications specialist for medium-sized excavators from the Cat 320 up to the 335, bringing
voice of customer (VOC) perspectives into the engineering team to develop the next generation excavator. After nearly a decade in Singapore, Kyarsgaard returned to Peoria to commence his current role as global product marketing consultant for Cat Productivity. He described the role as “taking all the advantages of the technology that we have on our latest products, and thinking about how we can make it useful for our customers, increase their bottom lines and decrease the inefficiencies on the job site to help them make more profits”.
WHAT IS CAT PRODUCTIVITY? Cat Productivity is a cloud-based program that captures quarries’ GPS and telematics data about detailed production measurements and job site data via Cat Product Link devices fitted to Caterpillar or mixed fleet machines. Figures from a given site are transmitted via digital phone connection to the cloud and they can be downloaded in the form of payload and cycle segmentation data by quarry producers for analysis and customer insights. “Imagine you have a quarry,” Kyarsgaard said. “You want to know how many loads are being produced, which loader filled which
truck, how many tonnes went into that truck, how long that truck went from point A to point B, and how many dumps happened that day. Traditionally, those counts are manually done by the operators, and you get those sheets and they have to be tallied at the end of the day or the end of the week. Customers are saying: ‘Please give me that data ahead of time, I need to get this data before the end of the week because I need to know if I have to work this weekend to meet my production goals’. So it’s about understanding what is being produced that day in 30 to 60 minutes, and knowing exactly what is being produced now.” Kyarsgaard explained that with the collection and collation of telematics and machine data, quarrying producers can create customer insights that help them better plan the job site. “As a quarry aided by customer insights, I know how many loads I did per day, how many tonnes of material I produced per day. I can compare how long the cycle times are from this week to last week. I can see where my inefficiencies are, so I can see my loaded stop or my empty stop events occur. If I’ve just had my truck loaded and suddenly I’m stopping in one spot all the time because of a single lane bridge or a traffic jam or a stop sign, how much is that costing me each time? What if I widen that bridge at $50,000? If I’m sitting there waiting at the bridge or stop sign for five minutes at a time, I can really see the costs very quickly.” Cat Productivity provides producers with a summary dashboard that has three major tabs: production, utilisation and cost. The production tab tracks by site or individual asset the load count, the payload, segments and estimated volumes. For load counts, it is possible to report full data on actual fleet production or individual assets. The payload tool can supply data on hourly fleet performance and identify opportunities for increased productivity on-site, eg optimised management of shift changes, refuelling processes and breaks. The segments tool tracks cycle segments, load times, fill levels, and loader positioning to promote site efficiency. “The Cat Product Link devices on the machines gives us the basic machine information. With the latest Cat products you get more advanced data which can include all the payload and cycle segmentation data,” Kyarsgaard said. “We can measure payload on the wheel loader or truck, and we can get
that cycle by cycle payload off the machines into Cat Productivity to help the customer have an in-depth view of what’s happening in the quarry.” The utilisation dashboard can compare working versus idle hours and fuel burn. “Now you can start to see all your stop/start events occurring, and idle times,” Kyarsgaard elaborated. “If your idle time is three to six, six to nine, or nine or more minutes, you can see where all these events are occurring. Now you can ask: ‘Why are these guys stopping in certain places or at certain times? Why is this stop occurring? What can I do to increase productivity? It’s about understanding how much time is being used. You know where
these idle events are occurring. “A lot of customers are focused on idling over five minutes or more. The utilisation dashboard tells me specifically what machine is idling, at what time and for how long, so we can solve some of these problems and reduce inefficiency on the job site.” The cost dashboard enables producers to track working time costs, idle time costs and costs per tonne. Kyarsgaard said this dashboard has really excited quarrying producers because they have been keen to know exactly how costly each cycle or idle event can be. “All of a sudden, if I have a machine or an operator that is fully burdened at $200, and is idle for 30 minutes, it’s $100
A fleet view of load count on the productivity dashboard.
A view of an asset list by loads per hour.
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in wasted operating expense, not to mention burning three or four gallons [11 to 15 litres] of fuel at $8,” he said. “That’s $108 wasted in 30 minutes of idle time.” The production tab can also go deeper with productivity insights, enabling the viewer to analyse at the cycle and asset levels the sources of inefficiencies. The production dashboard is also split into three subsegments, including production, utilisation and asset summary. This enables producers to track individual cycle times by machine and monitor the asset movement over a 24hour period with a playback view. For quarrying businesses running multiple sites, there is the capacity to create job sites to reflect each individual quarry. “It gives you figures to make comparisons and compile it into one job site,” Kyarsgaard said. “You can have as many job sites as you like out there to compare. When you start with Cat Productivity, we have job site score cards which specifically examine the high level key performance indicators (KPI), and the customer can change and adapt them to what he thinks the KPI should be, and he can quickly look across all those job sites to compare, see where something is versus the target, and make suggestions from there”. Cat Productivity is configured to work on numerous devices: desktop/laptop, mobile phone and mobile tablet. “We optimise it for mobile so that customers can be in the field with the fleet to know exactly what’s going on, how much material one needs, even off-site for quick meetings,” Kyarsgaard said. “When you’re on vacation, you can even quickly look at your quarry to see how it’s performing. Is it producing enough? You can make a quick call to your supervisor or superintendent to know exactly what’s going on. It’s designed for the owner right down to the site manager and the fleet manager to know how much material is being produced.”
NEW VS OLD Kyarsgaard said Cat Productivity is designed for all quarries depending on the customers’ needs. “It’s dependent on the customer, what they want and need, and what problems they’re trying to solve,” he explained. “We get our data within 30 to 60 minutes and that’s what we’re striving for, to make sure customers can have the reaction time in that duration.” He said it was also possible to customise the program to fit a quarry’s needs. “You can
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The Cat Product Link can be fitted to most new and old Cat vehicles, as well as competitor products.
gather summary dashboards, you can put in different fleets, and you can do competitive fleets, older fleets, new fleets. The beauty of this tool is you can customise it while getting all the same data. If you have a newer machine you can extract a lot more, in-depth fidelity of data versus the basic, competitive or older machine. You can still get the data off older machines but it just won’t be as in-depth. “Obviously our latest machines give us the best data,” Kyarsgaard continued. “When we move onto older Cat or mixed fleet machines, that’s when we can hook them up, gather all the hours and the locations and the fuel data and tie that into the system so we can use and analyse the data as well. We’re focused on the job site – we’re not focused on the individual machines, and that’s really how a customer looks at this data. They want to see how the whole job site works. It means we have to make sure all competitive wheel loaders, trucks or back-up loaders are connected to show a true picture of what’s happening on the job site.”
ECONOMY, ACCESSIBILITY Kyarsgaard said the affordability of Cat Productivity for quarry businesses varies from country to country and dealer to dealer. “If you fitted the machine and set it up, a reasonable subscription fee is charged per asset per month to get the data, and using the analytics and the logic in Cat Productivity,” he said. “Some dealers will offer some additional services, depending on their capability and the number of job sites.” Cat Productivity is available worldwide and is offered with Caterpillar products in Australia via distributors WesTrac (New South Wales, ACT and Western Australia), William Adams (Victoria and Tasmania), Hastings Deering (Queensland and the Northern Territory), and Cavpower (South Australia). Aggregates producers can also contact Caterpillar of Australia directly with inquiries. Kyarsgaard said the feedback from customers about Cat Productivity inside
and outside Australia has been positive and the program has increased its global subscription base in the past 12 months by almost 50 per cent. Indeed, he expects continuing subscription growth once Caterpillar releases an expansion to the program in 2022. “Our customers are saying they need to add more and multiple job sites, so we’re getting the expansion out next year,” he said. “It’s encouraging that customers are believing in the data, making changes from the data, making sure their bottom lines are improving and they can start pinpointing exactly where their problems are and making improvements in their job sites to maximise production. Right now, everyone in quarrying is seeking to maximise everything they can and they’re seeing these low hanging fruits with Cat Productivity.” Quarry asked Kyarsgaard what advice he had for quarries interested in implementing a cloud-based system for the first time. “You need to start measuring different things, understand what you can measure, and start analysing where those inefficiencies are in your quarry to optimise and improve them,” he said. “That doesn’t just relate to Caterpillar’s systems, it also applies to other OEM programs. “If you don’t measure your job site, you’ll never know. You need to review and understand your quarry site to get really good data and start measuring where you’re at, to understand your inefficiencies, and where you can optimise improvements. That’s a number one thing for a quarry: How do we maximise what we have today? We’re not going to go out and buy all new equipment, it’s really how we maximise our job site. There are a lot of inefficiencies on the job site where we can do a few things to significantly improve that bottom line and profit. Once you start measuring it, you can implement plans to solve problems for the future.” • For more information about Cat Productivity, visit cat.com/en_AU/products/new/technology/ productivity/productivity/103285.html
LOAD & HAUL
RIMEX MAKES ITS MARK IN TYRE MONITORING
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IMEX has evolved from a wheel manufacturer in Canada in the 1970s into a leading global supplier of the offthe-road (OTR) tyre pressure monitoring and maintenance system TyreSense. With a history servicing all sectors of the extractive industry, RIMEX has recently made big in-roads in supplying tyres and rims to the quarry market and is well prepared to increase its servicing of Australia’s quarrying and contractor environment. The continual development of TyreSense has kept RIMEX at the forefront of this quickly emerging market tool and the web-based software ensures live up to date data to maximise tyre productivity and efficiency. TyreSense was pioneered by RIMEX in 2001 in Vancouver. RIMEX general manager Karl Krajewski told Quarry the Australian market took advantage of a then new product. “We’ve found that Australian mines and quarries are always looking for that next advantage, whereas our branches in other countries have only seen a small take-up,” Krajewski said. “So, I think Australia can give itself a pat on the back for that. It always seems that we lead here in Australia and eventually our overseas counterparts realise how well it’s working for us.” TyreSense began as an in-cabin tool for operators to monitor their tyre pressures, built on the idea of reduced downtime and improved safety. As technology developed and remote monitoring started trending throughout the heavy industries, TyreSense grew into a more useful tool. “It fast evolved into having sensors inside the tyres for both pressure and temperature which can now be sent via ethernet and cellular network back to supervisors, senior management, or even head office anywhere in the world,” Krajewski said. “It’s turned into a whole fleet management system to understand speeds, location, direction, and can download data from the machine to become fully integrated with existing fleet management systems.” Once an issue is observed using the TyreSense suite, RIMEX also specialises in the next step to return to production, mending the tyre or rims. To cater to the growth of effective tyre
TyreSense has become one of the world’s leading tyre pressure monitoring systems.
management systems, RIMEX bought a tyre-fitting company in Mackay, Queensland, called Complete Tyre Services. Krajewski said it was a stringent process to find the most reliable business in tyre handling for off-the-road tyres. “I visited some tyre manufactures in China in late 2019 and the facilities were impeccable as there’s a lot of synergies there with other well-known tyre manufacturers,” he said. “Over the past 18 to 24 months this business has been performing really well in the quarrying and contractor environment – working with 35-inch and below tyre sizes and providing our key service of fitting, testing and servicing tyres.” Just as RIMEX forged a path into the tyre monitoring systems space, it also had the foresight to establish seven purpose-built rim certification facilities across Australia – the first of which was built in 2008. These mine- and quarry-heavy locations include Queensland’s Mount Isa, Blackwater and Mackay, Musselbrook in New South Wales, Adelaide, Perth and Newman in Western Australia. “The facilities will provide the full wheel recertification process in-house, plus RIMEX supplies all products required for the whole tyre fitting process including tyres, wheels, valves, gauges, and tooling,” Krajewski said. RIMEX’s Australian footprint combines with
its expertise for an average turnaround time of about 10 days for the complete refurbishment process. This is aided by a new online portal which allows customers to track the process from start to finish while storing all customer information for use at any time. Krajewski said it’s why RIMEX leads the way in tyre maintenance and monitoring. “We’re the only ones who do this, so we’ve evolved and professionalised things.” Of course, as small to medium-size quarry businesses look to improve their total cost of ownership, one could be forgiven for any apprehension towards the outsourcing of maintenance duties. However, Krajewski said if you want to ensure the safety and productivity of your fleet and you were going to send your wheels anywhere, it would be RIMEX. “I think some people can always be fearful of sending equipment off to get inspected and tested,” he said. “But we are the biggest and best because we’re not sitting here trying to find reasons to spend money on it. “We’re just trying to make things as safe as possible. We measure our pass rate and about 90 per cent of rims that come through don’t have anything done to it – you blast test, paint and out it goes again with that assurance that downtime will be avoided.”• To learn more about RIMEX’s TyreSense technology and services, visit rimex.com.au
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US construction firm Linco was the first in the world to purchase the new Rokbak RA30 articulated haulers.
US CONSTRUCTION FIRM MAKES HISTORY WITH HAULER PURCHASE
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S-based equipment dealer Easton Sales and Rentals and its client Linco Construction have registered a notable moment in construction equipment history, with the sale of the first ever Rokbak articulated haulers globally. The Rokbak brand launched on 1 September, 2021 as part of the Volvo Group, with its RA30 and RA40 articulated haulers built at the company factory in Motherwell, Scotland. Easton Sales and Rentals has sold a package of two RA30 models sold to Linco Construction, a family-owned and operated company founded in Houston, Texas in 1992. Linco Construction has already put the Rokbak machines to work, helping with earthworks, underground utilities, and clearing work. Although the Rokbak brand is new, Easton Sales and Rentals is a long-term partner of the company in its previous incarnation and was the 2020 Dealer of the Year. Jeff Udelson, the managing principal of Easton Sales and Rentals, was delighted to take delivery of the first Rokbak units. “It’s a great honour for our company to get the first Rokbak articulated hauler and there was real excitement around the dealership when it arrived,” he said. “Rokbak has only been in existence a short time, but it’s built on the legacy of a company with a long history,” he said. “What’s most impressive about the new Rokbak brand is how clear it is to see what it stands for – hard work, performance, reliability, sustainability. It’s also backed by the Volvo Group so there’s no doubt about the quality or performance.
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“It looks fantastic but a great exterior is just a small part of what makes these machines such excellent haulers,” Udelson continued. “They are unstoppable on site, and can power through anything a project throws at them. So you get unbeatable performance and durability but with a fuel-efficient design which means better ROI on the job.” Steve Brown, the president of Linco Construction, said the design and performance of the Rokbak machines was a perfect match for his company. “Our business is built on delivering quality work that is competitively priced and performed by experts, so these new Rokbak machines are ideal tools to help us do that,” Brown said. “They’ve only been at work for a few weeks, but we can already see they are workhorses. We have built relationships with our clients on our commitment, hard work and quality, and when we look at the Rokbak haulers, we see those same values shining through.” The RA30 articulated hauler from Rokbak is suitable for construction sites, infrastructure developments and quarries. The 28-tonne unit offers a heaped capacity of 17.5m3 and is powered by a Scania DC9 engine, which develops gross power of 276kW and a maximum torque of 1880Nm. Its fuel-efficient engine is emissions-compliant and meets the requirements of the latest North American legislation with T4F. The hauler’s EP320 transmission comes with eight forward and four reverse gears, with a top speed of 55km per hour, high overall gear ratio spread, equal ratio steps between gears and optimised gear shifting
with partial load shifts. This adds up to lower fuel consumption, smoother gear shifting, better operator comfort and faster cycle times. Increased productivity and uptime, plus lower cost per tonne, are further boosted by the long-life transmission fluid, which increases the time needed between oil changes from 1000 to 4000 hours. In addition to the two Rokbak RA30 units it has already received, Easton Sales and Rentals has a further three on their way to Texas. Two have been sold to JMC Equipment LLC, another Houston-based company, while the third will join the inventory fleet at Easton Sales and Rentals. At its locations across Texas, Easton Sales and Rentals provides earthmoving equipment for hauling, trench digging, loading, grading and excavating to contractors in the construction and road building sectors. The relationship between Easton Sales and Rentals and Rokbak dates back more than two decades. “We are absolutely thrilled with the enthusiasm our long-standing dealer partners in North America have shown for the new brand and are looking forward to working closely with them over the coming months and years as we establish Rokbak as the industry benchmark for performance, power and reliability,” Daniel Meara, the regional sales manager for Rokbak in North America, said. • In Australia, the distributor of the Rokbak product will be Porter Construction Equipment. Visit porterce.com.au For more information about the RA30 and the Rokbak products, visit rokbak.com
I Q A N AT I O N A L C O N F E R E N C E
29 – 31 MARCH 2022, NEWCASTLE NSW
WITH THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS
As we look forward to IQA2021 in March 2022, we acknowledge the support of our valued event partners P L AT I N U M PA R T N E R S
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RISK MANAGEMENT
WHAT DOES CHRONIC UNEASE LOOK LIKE IN PRACTICE?
Accidents don’t just happen when things are going badly; they often happen when things appear to be going well. Jodi Goodall, of Brady Heywood, explains the concept of chronic unease in high hazard industries like quarrying, and how it can be applied in practice.
CHRONIC UNEASE How long has it been since a major accident or failure in your business? Long periods of success can result in us taking our eye off the ball – we might even start celebrating our success. What we know about major accidents is that when organisations are in this mindset, they are often drifting towards failure. Accidents don’t just happen when
Investigations are helpful for bringing out vital learnings from incidents. But in my experience investigations also cause good business leaders anguish over actions not taken in hindsight – not to mention the devastating impacts of the incidents themselves. So rather than waiting for people in our group to suffer before we take stock and act, we can instead understand the techniques that best-in-class businesses use to prevent serious accidents altogether. There are organisations out there that
manage to maintain near-accident-free performance over many decades, despite operating in high hazard and complex environments. They are called High Reliability Organisations (HROs). One of the five characteristics that helps them to achieve this feat is called chronic unease, or a preoccupation with failure.
as they got busier there were too many jobs going on with too little space … The end of month bonus did encourage the team to take shortcuts to complete the jobs on time … The list went on.
F
ollowing a serious accident in his workshop, where one of his most experienced maintenance team members had both of his legs crushed, the workshop manager confided to me that it felt “out of the blue”. His workshop had an excellent safety reputation. The event occurred during a crane lift of a large steel pipe. The pipe dislodged, knocked a nearby team member to the floor and rolled onto his legs. He would never walk again. Afterwards, when the investigation was complete, what frustrated the workshop manager most was that he already knew most of these issues. Similar incidents had happened, but with no bad outcome … They had a PO in the system to get the right lifting equipment ... He himself, had observed that
Figure 1. The four essential areas for an organisation to create and sustain chronic unease.
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things are going badly; they often happen when things appear to be going well. Chronic unease is a strategy to combat this. It’s a psychological state where individuals at all levels of an organisation feel a sense of constant discomfort and healthy scepticism about how risks are being managed. This leads them to relentlessly hunt for warning signs of potential failure. Then the trick is to make those warning signs more vivid, and act on them to prevent those failures occurring. In September this year, I delivered a webinar discussing chronic unease and how it can be applied in practice. There was a lot of interest in the topic; a lot of people are keen to incorporate chronic unease in their organisations. A common misconception is that chronic unease is just about combatting complacency at the frontline. But exhibiting chronic unease isn’t the responsibility of one group. And in practice, chronic unease is only able to flourish in organisations in the long
run when environmental factors are structured to support its presence. There are four areas that are essential for an organisation to work on to create chronic unease and sustain it (see Figure 1): 1. A questioning attitude. 2. Psychological safety. 3. Risk competence. 4. Systems to detect and capture warning signs.
1. ADOPTING A QUESTIONING ATTITUDE A questioning attitude is a curiosity about the signs in front of you and a commitment to looking deeper. It helps you explore risks, uncover warning signs, and understand what those warning signs might mean. It provides a clearer picture of what your organisation’s real performance is and where the real issues are. You should question your assumptions, any unintended outcomes (positive or negative) and anomalies. Ask questions like: • Do we understand why we got that result?
• What could be the worst outcome? • How could that control fail? • What is our backup plan if it does?
2. CREATING PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY Psychological safety is a cultural environment where people feel like they will not be personally judged or punished for speaking up about warning signs or issues – especially by their seniors in the organisation. Psychological safety is important if you want to make sure you have a chance of receiving the benefit of everyone’s observations. You don’t want anything left unsaid, such as: • People’s own mistakes and errors. • Near misses. • Things that look strange or different. Ever heard the phrase “that’s career limiting”? If your people feel they could be personally judged or punished for reporting incidents, making mistakes, or challenging decisions or directions they perceive as unsafe (especially to more senior people),
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RISK MANAGEMENT
they may choose not to raise issues – and rarely is it obvious if people are holding back. Psychological safety is cultivated when leaders reward and recognise those who speak up, even if it turns out to be nothing, or even incorrect. Punitive approaches often discourage speaking up.
3. IMPROVING RISK COMPETENCE Everyone from the board to the frontline needs to have a clear understanding of the hazards and how they are managed – in other words, a high level of risk competence. If we can’t visualise what could go wrong, or if we don’t have a clear picture of what our hazards look like when they’re being well controlled, then it’s easy to assume that things are going well. I’m not talking about classroom training in risk management. Risk competence is improved by a combination of technical knowledge and experience, gathered from a wide range of sources. The more risk competence your organisation possesses, the more understanding there will be about any weaknesses in how the risks are controlled, and the more easily that warning signs can be noticed. 4. CAPTURING WARNING SIGNS Our systems for detecting and capturing warning signs may include: • Systems to monitor physical risk such as strata, dust or gas monitoring systems. • Reliability systems such as maintenance and inspection systems. • Reporting systems for your people to tell you when unexpected things happen. These systems should support the process of capturing, analysing and taking action on our warning signs. Even if we collect a lot of data, if the data isn’t turned into meaningful information or doesn’t reach the right people, it can’t inform our decision-making. CREATING CHRONIC UNEASE Practical ways to create chronic unease include: • Storytelling. Storytelling is hands down one of the best ways to create chronic unease. People are more likely to retain
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Risk competence is improved by a combination of technical knowledge and experience, gathered from a wide range of sources.
information if they hear it as part of a story. Also, as big failures don’t happen very often, storytelling is the best way to recreate an experience for people that they can learn from and relate the details to their own situation. You can use stories or findings from your industry or other industries, use your own stories, or invite your technical experts to share theirs. • Technical experts taking a teaching role. Invite your experts (internal and external) to share their technical knowledge about a particular aspect of a risk or a control. You could have regular 15-minute presentations from these people instead of a toolbox talk. • Exploring your data. Take time in groups to explore your data (maintenance, incident, quality, production) with fresh eyes. Get “fidelity” on the numbers by reading incident descriptions and asking experts. For example, start with your hazard reports. Get a deep understanding of the types of reports you are getting. For example, are they all related to one type of hazard? Are there blind spots elsewhere? Do all the reports come from one team? • Leaders spending time in the field. Field time is all about learning for everyone involved. Listen to those doing the work about what makes it successful and what makes it challenging. Take an expert or a set of fresh eyes with you (not a pack of people). • Using LEAN continuous improvement techniques to explore successful work. For example, “learning teams” and Kaizen approaches. Leaders can use the knowledge discovered through these techniques to increase learning. • Using bowtie diagrams as shared risk knowledge. Organisations need a clear picture of their major hazards and something to anchor conversations to. Bowties enable everyone to speak the same language and to have a common
understanding of hazards and controls – from the board room, to the planning team, to front-line workers.
FINAL THOUGHTS There are many factors working against us practicing chronic unease. That is why telling people to “report more”, “notice more”, “care more” or to “have more chronic ease” doesn’t work. Without the right organisational environment, chronic unease cannot survive the long haul. Leaders must address the organisational factors that suppress chronic unease, and build practical influences into their organisation to encourage its continued presence at all levels. Organisations must ensure they are set up to incentivise wanted behaviours through their actions as well as their words. The way we message, measure and reward within our organisations, the level of our understanding of hazards and controls, and the systems we put in place to capture information all have a profound effect on whether warning signs can rise to the surface, receive attention, and be acted upon. Chronic unease takes effort to build into your organisation so that it sticks and becomes chronic. It’s worth it. In the end it’s all about finding multiple ways to amplify your warning signs and make them more vivid, so you can act on them before they lead to failure. • Jodi Goodall is Head of Organisational Reliability at Brady Heywood, Brisbane, Queensland. Brady Heywood has also developed the Queensland mining and quarrying podcast series “Rethinking Safety” as part of the Brady Review. This podcast contains interviews with key industry leaders, the regulator and unions about key challenges faced by the industry. Visit bradyheywood.com.au/podcasts Sean Brady and Jodi Goodall’s thoughts about serious accidents, mine safety and High Reliability Organisations can also be found at bradyheywood.com.au/insights Check out the recording of the webinar “What does chronic unease look like in practice?” on the Brady Heywood YouTube channel, where Jodi digs deeper into practices for risk competence and systems that capture warning signs.
IQA NEWS
The Institute of Quarrying Australia
IQA ACKNOWLEDGES ITS SPONSORS, SUPPORTERS AHEAD OF NEWCASTLE
A
s 2021 draws to a close the IQA keenly acknowledges the support of event partners for the IQA National Conference. At the IQA, we have been overwhelmed by the ongoing support of our industry partners that have stuck with us through a change of date and have joined us on the journey to March 2022. For many years, the IQA has been supported by three Platinum Partners who are on board with us again for the 63rd IQA National Conference in March 2022.
Caterpillar For more than 90 years, Caterpillar Inc has been making sustainable progress possible and driving positive change on every continent. Customers turn to Caterpillar to help them develop infrastructure, energy and natural resource assets. With 2018 sales and revenues of nearly $55 billion, Caterpillar is a leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and dieselelectric locomotives. The company principally operates through its three primary segments - construction industries, resource industries and energy and transportation - and also provides financing and related services through its financial products segment. As a platinum sponsor, Caterpillar will be exhibiting at the conference and host the Caterpillar Gala Dinner on 31 March, 2022. Hitachi Hitachi Construction Machinery Australia (HCA) is a subsidiary of Hitachi Construction Machinery Co Ltd (Japan) and part of the global and diversified Hitachi Ltd group. HCA is the exclusive distributor of Hitachi and Bell products in Australia. It is committed
to delivering machinery sales and support to Australian customers across the mining, construction, quarrying, forestry, materials handling and recycling industries through a wholly owned national branch network. Hitachi will join us as an exhibitor and host the Welcome Reception on the first night in Newcastle, 29 March, 2022.
Komatsu Technology and innovation is built into Komatsu’s DNA. Whether it is ICT-based machine management, autonomous haulage mining trucks or fuel-efficient hybrid excavators, Komatsu has been at the forefront of innovation and is recognised globally as a technology leader in all sectors of the earthmoving industry. Komatsu’s commitment to innovation is ongoing, as demonstrated through its SmartConstruction concept and the next generation of Komatsu machines which increase productivity, reduce costs and eliminate rework. Komatsu will host the Komatsu Conference Dinner at Newcastle Racecourse on Wednesday 30 March, 2022 as well as exhibiting at the conference. OTHER SUPPORTERS The IQA National Conference has also been fortunate to receive support from both Destination NSW and the City of Newcastle. As the host city sponsor, the City of Newcastle will warmly welcome our delegates, sponsors and exhibitors to the city over the three days. Situated on the east coast of NSW, Newcastle is surrounded by golden sand beaches, a breathtaking coastline and a beautiful working harbour. The cafes, restaurants and bars, unique architecture and rich history stretch from the
city to the suburbs. For further information on things to do in Newcastle or extending your stay pre- or post-conference, view visitnewcastle.com.au The IQA Partner Day is a conference tradition and we thank Orica for its continued support of this important program. Partners at the conference in March 2022 will be treated to a unique itinerary featuring some of Newcastle’s key highlights, a chance to explore their creative side and a tour of an integral support service for the Hunter Region. The companies supporting other aspects of the conference – including the conference master of ceremonies, the site visit, shuttle bus, conference app, IQA Awards, coffee cart, conference satchel, hydration station and inaugural after party – are Wirtgen Australia, RTV Training, Lincom Group, Liebherr Australia, Hetherington Environmental, WesTrac, Cement and Aggregate Consulting and Access Environmental Systems. Our sponsors will be joined by more than 50 exhibitors showcasing the latest in equipment and services available to the extractive and associated industries. We thank all event partners that have supported IQA2021 and look forward to a fantastic conference in Newcastle in March 2022. To register or for further information visit iqa. eventsair/conference For now, best wishes from Newcastle for a safe and happy Christmas.•
The organising committee for the IQA National Conference wishes all readers season’s greetings.
Quarry December 2021 45
IQA NEWS
The Institute of Quarrying Australia
IQA AND THE INDUSTRY To help promote our engagement with industry, the IQA has developed an industry supporter badge. It is being released to industry so businesses that support the IQA can promote the Institute. In addition, all current IQA members will receive a digital membership badge. The badge denotes each member’s grade. The electronic badge can be used on email signatures, LinkedIn, Facebook and more.
GET INVOLVED IN THE IQA Quarry Content Advisor – contract role The Quarry Magazine Content Advisor will support the technical accuracy of articles in Quarry (print and electronic) and provide advice to help with factually correct technical information. The contractor will collaborate with the editor of Quarry, the IQA CEO and the magazine’s editorial panel to identify relevant news stories and support editorial content. For more information, download the EOI form from the IQA website: quarry.com.au (> Extractive Industry > Our Partners). Membership Review Committee nomination The IQA is seeking an EOI for up to five representatives from industry, branches and sub-branches, and suppliers to join the Membership Review Committee (MRC). The MRC’s role is to: i) Determine applications for member status, where applicants do not have a formal or exempting qualification. ii) Determine member applications referred to it by the Committee Chair or National Office staff. iii) Determine member applications referred by applicants that are unhappy with decisions of the Committee Chair or National Office staff. iv) Review and provide recommendations to the Board via the IQA CEO on all Fellowship nominations. v) Review and provide recommendations to the Board on all Honorary Fellowship nominations. vi) Review and provide advice to the CEO on all membership matters. vii) Review and provide advice to the CEO on strategies to sustain and grow membership. viii) Refer matters of Committee composition, membership guideline amendments, membership grades and annual membership fees to the Board via the CEO. For more information, download the EOI form from the IQA website: quarry.com.au (>Membership Review Committee).
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IQA AWARDS Given the challenges of the past 12 months there has been a slow uptake for the 2021 IQA Awards. As a result: • The IQA Board has extended the nomination closing date to 18 January, 2022. • Non-IQA members can now apply for the 2022 award cycle in all categories (excluding the President’s Medal). • The Exhibitor of the Year will be judged from the conference exhibitors at the national conference on 29 and 30 March, 2022. The IQA Awards are an opportunity for members to nominate their peers and showcase talented industry people and innovative ideas. Hanson Bass Point Quarry manager Steve Butcher (2018 Quarry Manager of the Year) has told Quarry the awards are “a really good avenue to let the industry know what your operations are doing and share those ideas as best practice”. He added submitting an application “helps you put perspective on your own career” and what you would like to do next. Malcolm Sawers, a maintenance supervisor at Hanson’s Kulnura Quarry, collected the 2017 Excellence in Innovation Award for devising, with colleague Michael Bennic, a device called KAMMP that dispenses paint whenever tramp metal is detected on the conveyor belt. The belt automatically stops and workers will follow the paint marks to find and remove the pieces of stray metal, reducing downtime in the crushing and screening circuit dramatically. Sawers told Quarry that “sitting in the IQA conference and hearing your name being called out in front of a lot of your peers was very exciting. It was great to be recognised, and hearing all the feedback from a lot of colleagues and other people in the business”. Andrew Hauser, Barro Group Seymour Quarry manager, was the recipient of the 2019 Alex Northover Award for best portfolio submitted to a RTO by an IQA member who has completed a qualification in surface extraction operations. He said he never set out to win an award but it “was good to see that the hard work was acknowledged. The Award is a great recognition of your knowledge, the hard work and learning capabilities”. Further, the learnings that Hauser took from his studies were successfully implemented at Seymour Quarries. Barro’s Victorian quarry operations manager Craig Banthorpe wrote as part of Hauser’s Alec Northover nomination that “Andrew has been able to
An example of the digital IQA Membership Badge.
put into practice in the workplace many of the competencies introduced” and the ‘Manage People Performance’ module had provided “the tools he required to manage the people at and connected to the site”. Further information about the IQA Awards can be found on the IQA website: quarry.com.au
BRANCH NEWS The following online education events were held in October. Learning from Disasters The mandatory New South Wales course was delivered virtually to a sold out audience. It is mandatory for all quarry managers at Tier 1 and Tier 2 quarries to undertake the course. The IQA is an Approved Training Provider: No. 0004206. Quarry Roads & Onsite Vehicles Safety This popular webinar was delivered to a full complement of 25 attendees. A second webinar was run on 25 November. Quarry Products Technical Training The IQA delivered a successful Quarry Products Technical Training online workshop on 21 October. The course was run at capacity with participants representing a cross-section of the industry. Facilitator Tony Ferrazza ensured the group left the course with relevant key outcomes seen via the positive feedback received from some of the delegates.
“Just wanted to express my thanks to Tony and the IQA for the excellent course. It was very enjoyable and I got a lot from it. Could you please pass my thanks to Tony for presenting as well? He did a great job!” – Jason, Senior Geologist “Great course yesterday, really got a lot out of it, please pass on my thank you to Tony!” – David, Key Account Manager
NSW NORTHERN REGION AGM The NSW Northern Region sub-branch (NR) met virtually on 27 October for its AGM. The meeting saw a newly-formed committee enthusiastic
IQA NEWS
The Institute of Quarrying Australia
GOODBYE TO 2021: A YEAR OF
CHALLENGES, RESILIENCE AND CHANGE I simply can’t believe I am writing for the December edition of Quarry. Where has the year gone? 2021 was a year full of challenges and constant change that required resilience. At the time of writing this article there is a level of optimism that international and state borders will open. I wrote last month that the uptake of the vaccine was a key part of many states’ and territories’ roadmaps to easing restrictions and how many businesses were responding to encourage vaccination in various ways. The focus must remain on vaccination for the foreseeable future to help save lives, protect jobs and keep the economy moving. As our borders open the need to encourage vaccination remains critical. The message will soon need to include getting booster shots for those who are fully vaccinated. So, to the year that was. The IQA faced change and challenges head on. Overall, we had a solid year and maintained engagement and services to members. This was due to the support and commitment of branch committees, Women in Quarrying and Young Member Network co-ordinators, our sponsors and partners and tireless work by the team. Thank you for all that you did in the past 12 months. In January this year, we were still busy implementing processes to manage in a virtual world and were juggling the planning of events in many states still facing lockdowns. Branch
committees responded and ensured they stayed connected with the industry through virtual meetings, then face to face events. This positivity saw branch events resume in all states in 2021 with great success. A highlight for me was hearing the Honorable Julie Bishop speak at the Diversity and Inclusion conference in Perth on the importance of diversity and share some insights from her amazing career. Building on the work of the Women in Quarrying network and moving into a broader dialogue of diversity will be a focus of the Institute in 2022 and beyond. The ability for the IQA to pivot, adapt and respond to change was due to our loyal supporter network. Our sponsors gave their time generously to participate in branch committees, support education programs, speak at events and contribute financially. I want to thank all supporters for your generosity and flexibility in what was a challenging year. Your support was a key part of the IQA’s overall stability and recovery as we managed during 2021. The next 12 months and beyond will see the IQA deliver on its strategic plan. I am especially excited about the market research we are
about revitalising the branch after a challenging two years. The committee welcomes new chair Chris Brown MIQ, supported by outgoing chair Jason Williams, who has returned as deputy chair for 2021-22. Thomas Sherd MIQ returns to the role of secretary/treasurer. Bradley Brown AIQ and Matt Kelly MIQ join the revitalised executive team as committee members.
member network while expanding the reach to future members in our industry is very exciting.”
The NR committee also met in late November to discuss plans for the delivery of professional development and networking events across Northern NSW in 2022. “I am looking forward to working with the branch committee in planning worthy events in the north,” Brown said. “Exploring how we as a committee can best service the existing
NORTHERN QUEENSLAND NEWS
undertaking to identify new ways to add value, serve the industry and deliver training. Several new education programs are being prepared for release and we will look to strengthen our engagement with the younger generation. The IQA team juggled a lot of change and still delivered. Thanks to Ned Worboys, Lisa Stromborg, Donna Turner, Belinda Virgo, Emily Logan, Teresa Everett, Rod Lester and Marie Cunningham. Your flexibility, dedication and willingness to find a solution made all the difference in 2021. I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a safe and prosperous 2022. KYLIE FAHEY Chief Executive Officer Institute of Quarrying Australia • EXEL Drilling. • Australian Mining & Quarry Supplies. • A2B Crushing & Screening. • D&M Electrical.
Mackay Golf Day The Mackay Golf Club hosted its first IQA Golf Day on 8 October. Fifty-nine players took to the course for nine holes. The day concluded with a post-game presentation and networking. A big thanks to the IQA’s Mackay team and all participants for making the day a success, including the following sponsors: • Tenkate. • Astec Industries.
CENTRAL QUEENSLAND SUB-BRANCH NEWS The Central Queensland sub-branch held a networking dinner to a capacity room of 40 people. A presentation was delivered by Gavin Hill, the project manager of the Rockhampton Ring Road Project from Queensland’s Transport & Main Roads. Attendees also heard from the event sponsor Kerryanne Tawhai, the director of DTE Training & Safety Skills. Quarry December 2021 47
EDUCATION
EMPATHY IN LEADERS:
A JOURNALIST’S PERSPECTIVE As part of the recent commentary on the characteristics of effective leadership, Quarry editor Damian Christie (pictured, right) explains the importance of empathy in his role working with the quarrying industry for the past 13 years.
E
arlier this year, the Institute of Quarrying Australia (IQA) invited me to present a monthly article, based on one of the seven core characteristics of effective leadership (see Figure 1). Rather than write all seven scenarios myself, I invited numerous people to make a contribution, from a diverse demographic and a number of industries. This additional chapter features a narrative from Quarry editor Damian Christie who selected empathetic relationships for his account of becoming an effective leader. I offered the following brief explanation for Empathetic Relationships in my book: Empathetic leaders have the ability to recognise, understand and share the thoughts and feelings of another person. They acknowledge the story without judgement. Mike Cameron
Damian Christie’s story As a journalist on and off for the best part of 25 years, I’ve had the opportunity to work across a variety of industries: the youth and child welfare sectors, in medical education and professional development, in a peak advocate for the confectionery industry, and for more than 13 years for the quarrying industry. When I explain this to people, they are surprised at the extensive and diverse fields I’ve covered. However, this shouldn’t be altogether surprising. Journalists – whether they work for trade publications (as I do), newspapers, magazines, television or the internet – all start out as “generalists”, that is, reporting and writing about an assortment of different topics and themes. On a community newspaper in particular – and especially so if you’re based in the regions – you could be a police reporter, sports reporter, real estate correspondent, local politics commentator and even arts and crafts scribe all rolled into
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one. Talk about adaptability and flexibility! While many journalists ultimately specialise in certain fields and industries (eg economics, politics, entertainment, aviation, transport, etc), and earn enormous respect for their work in these specialties, they nevertheless will have been savvy enough at the beginning of their careers to write about an array of other content. And they will not just have needed to write well about different topics, they will have needed to be enthusiastic about them too. If journalists don’t approach each and every assignment with an open mind, they will be unable to write well – and will certainly lose their readers if they can’t present pieces of writing that are insightful, persuasive and compelling. So when people remark that I’ve “been around”, I attribute working across different industries as part and parcel of my profession. It might seem negative and daunting to non-writers to effectively have to reset when you move into a new role that is covering unfamiliar territory. But, in many ways it is simply about having adaptability and due diligence. A journalist’s role doesn’t greatly alter when they move into a new field – they still report and communicate as always – it just requires them to learn and better understand the field they have joined, and to be empathetic.
LEARNING ‘ON THE JOB’ I’ve been a long-standing editor of Quarry, the IQA’s official journal, since mid-2008. While I was aware that quarries existed (I’m a lover of science fiction films and television, and Doctor Who in particular is full of quarries masquerading as extra-terrestrial environments), I knew next to nothing about the Australian industry when I started and I certainly had no work experience on a site. But then again, I knew very little about the other industries I’d worked in when I came
to them fresh – confectionery, surgical disciplines, obstetrics and gynaecology, etc. It was simply a matter of learning more about the extractive industry, presenting myself at IQA meetings where I could meet and talk with members of the industry, and taking time out of the office to undertake site visits and learn as much about the industry as I could “on the job”, so to speak. I found that the more I visited quarries and saw the plant and equipment in action – particularly the crushing and screening circuits – the more I could start to relate what was happening on-site with the material that I was editing for the magazine. Something else that in hindsight was to my advantage was an unexpected invitation I received within one week of beginning as Quarry editor. It was from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to attend the launch of a drill rig – in Finland. I’d been to Europe before but all the same going to a launch in Finland (a country I’d never visited) within a month of starting a new role was surreal and daunting. However, it was a godsend because I was able to meet with like-minded journalists and editors on other mining and quarrying titles from the US, South Africa, Asia and Europe; communications and marketing personnel from within the OEMs; and engineers that designed and operated the plant and
Freshman Damian Christie on his first site visit, in the Talvivaara nickel surface mine, eastern Sotkamo, Finland, in June 2008.
equipment. I found everyone accessible and personable, and I was able to learn more about the industry first-hand than I could have from just editing articles that my predecessor had commissioned. It was a fast-tracked introduction to my new industry, and a worthwhile one. My first “quarry” was actually an open pit mine in the north of Finland. But, in the months that followed I started visiting more quarries around Australia, including the Boral Deer Park Quarry and the Penrith Lakes Development Corporation. I’ve visited plenty of quarries around the country, small and
Figure 1. The seven characteristics of effective leadership, supplemented by the four attributes of trust.
large, in the past 13 years. With each visit I began to better comprehend some of the technical aspects of the extractive industry. Seeing the processes for myself meant the words I was editing and writing began to make more sense. Even now, I wouldn’t say I completely understand the way crushers, screens and washers work. However, I believe I have a better understanding now of the work quarries do and why their contributions to society are often understated and largely unappreciated.
ENGAGING WITH INDUSTRY PEOPLE A lot has changed about my role in the past 13 years. But the one thing I still enjoy about it is meeting and engaging with industry people, from the quarry managers and supervisors in the pit to the engineers on the plant and equipment side. Quarry professionals are modest but passionate, knowledgeable, good-humoured, hardworking, down to earth individuals. They are open and willing to talk about their work and the processes and plants they operate. As a journalist, you need to think about the right questions to ask and encourage them to tell their stories. And while they may scoff at the suggestion, quarry professionals often have fascinating stories to tell. In an issue of Quarry recently, I had the pleasure of talking to possibly one of Australia’s youngest quarrying managers, who had little more than two years’ experience, as well as two of the industry’s most experienced, one of whom has worked
for the same quarrying business for almost 50 years. Now’s that variety. While I have been Quarry editor for 13 years, I don’t automatically think of myself as a leader. My role has traditionally been solitary, self-driven and autonomous. Across two publishers I’ve worked with several business development managers that are in charge of Quarry’s sales and I’ve even managed and mentored a good 10 staff journalists (one at a time). But I often think of those relationships as more collaborative and team-orientated than “leading from the front” or “leading by example”. Empathy is an important trait in a role like mine. It’s about not only dealing internally with my peers, but also externally with quarrying professionals. It also ties back to what I wrote earlier – that if I’m not passionate about my work, if I’m not prepared to empathise with members of the extractive industry and their challenges and issues, then it is next to impossible to be able to convey that empathy into words on a page and to in turn engage my readers when they open the latest issue of Quarry or click on a story online. It’s easy to accuse some journalists of being sensationalist, of chasing stories for click-bait headlines and to court controversy, and no doubt there are instances where some are guilty as charged. However, if that was part of my remit as a writer and editor, it would not only make me non-empathetic, it would make me unethical. I see working with members of the quarrying industry as a collaborative process. I want to give them
Quarry December 2021 49
EDUCATION
A highlight of the sojourn to Finland was a visit to the Temppeliaukio Church in Helsinki. The interior of this rock temple was excavated and built directly out of solid granite.
favourable coverage and tell positive stories – providing some publicity about the important work they do and which often eludes them. To that end, when I organise interviews, whether it is face to face, telephone or online, I send questions in advance to give a person time to think about their answers. Further, once the interview is conducted and the article is written and ready for publication, the story goes back to the interviewee for feedback and approval. It would be counter-productive of me to run a story without a person’s input. I think of the interview process as an informal partnership – with the aim of telling a good story and portraying the quarry and its representative in a positive light. I’m all about “win-win” scenarios. It gives Quarry credibility if we can tell good stories, and it also gives quarry professionals and their sites or businesses a positive outcome. Further, there is then the scope for me to revisit a given person and their quarry operation at a later time.
BEING YOUR BEST As unlikely as it may seem on the surface, empathy – particularly in dealing with members of the extractive industry – has been a critical part of my work for more than a decade. I doubt I would have lasted the distance if it were otherwise. I’ve really enjoyed my time on the “fringes” of the quarrying industry, and the role remains ongoing. As I’ve said, I’ve always found members of the extractive industry warm and
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accommodating, and it’s always fair that I repay that trust in kind in the way I engage and interact with them. Being empathetic isn’t just about being a better leader – it’s about being a better person, and the best person you can be, and undertaking two-way communication. If you’re empathetic, then the ability to lead, guide or inspire should come naturally, and almost with minimal effort. It’s a pity that COVID-19 has had such a massive impact on our lives in Australia in the
past 18 months. In that time, empathy has been very sorely needed in the way people interact and perform as human beings. Contact between members of the extractive industry has particularly been impacted. Even more frustratingly, that contact has been further curtailed every time it seemed the worst was behind us. I look forward to reconnecting with members of the industry beyond the phone or a computer monitor in the not too distant future.• Damian Christie is the editor of Quarry, the official journal of the Institute of Quarrying Australia, published by Prime Creative Media. Email: damian.christie@primecreative.com.au
EFFECTIVE LEADERS – AVAILABLE NOW Damian Christie’s chapter and other chapters on effective leadership published this year in Quarry form part of a new book – Effective Leaders: Four attributes that underpin the core characteristics Of Effective Leadership, written and edited by Mike Cameron. Built on a strong foundation of trust, and guided by leaders who continuously hone their skills, results and performance are achieved through an engaged and empowered workplace. These leaders understand the importance of four attributes (values) that underpin the seven core characteristics of effective leadership: Respect, Courage, Integrity and Agility. The book is available to order via the Strategically Yours website: strategically.com.au
As a companion book, Effective Leaders continues the journey identified within The Emerging Leader by offering numerous narratives, from currently active and experienced leaders, based on the seven core characteristics of effective leadership. However, while highlighting the importance of building Trust, Mike Cameron encourages the reader to lead with their own blend of the four key attributes: Respect, Courage, Integrity and Agility. There are chapters, containing stories and anecdotes about these important values, from some of the best writers and contributors in their field, that will inspire readers and persuade them to indulge in these life lessons. Martin Toomey Business owner of Transport Equipment Australia and Chair of ARTSA-
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