Industry outlook PG4 | New equipment PG6 | Screen media PG22
May 2018 | www.AggMan.com
17
Optimize workflow for best equipment ROI
28
Reduce regulations through rulemaking, not policy
— Baldor-Reliance® motors Local manufacturing Global support
For more than 100 years, we’ve set out to do things better. And that’s still our goal today. Every day we produce the AC, DC and variable speed motors you trust and prefer from Fort Smith, Ozark and Clarksville, Arkansas; Westville, Oklahoma; Columbus, Mississippi; Athens and Gainesville, Georgia; and Kings Mountain, North Carolina. We are proud to continue to offer the same products and service you prefer with the global ABB technologies and innovation you deserve.
479-646-4711 Baldor.com
McCloskey Washing Systems debuts its Compact Sand Plant line.
On Our Cover: Big Cypress Rock Mine, located in the Florida Everglades, is owned by the Seminole Tribe. Cover photo by Kerry Clines.
PAGE 7
To accommodate quick production increases, some operators are retrofitting their modular synthetic to wire cloth.
PAGE 22
TABLE OF CONTENTS MAY 2018 |
VOLUME 23, NUMBER 5
COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS FEATURE ARTICLES
3 Editorial Straight talk on safety.
10 Mining the Glades
4 Data Mining The latest financial analysis of issues impacting in the industry and Aggregates Manager’s exclusive aggregates industry outlook.
This Seminole-owned mine, surrounded by nothing but water and sawgrass, offers both advantages and challenges.
22 Boost Screen Throughput
As capacity demands escalate, producers can increase deck capacity by adapting it to increase open area and efficiency.
6 RollOuts Eagle Iron Work’s new Condor line of screw washers, and other new equipment for the aggregates market. 28 Rock Law To stand the test of time — and changing administrations — MSHA’s initiative to reduce regulations should be made via rulemaking. 30 Advertiser Index See who’s who and where to find their products.
OPERATIONS ILLUSTRATED
17
Optimizing Workflow
Scrutinizing the entire workflow, not just crushers, helps operators determine the best return on equipment investment.
31 Classified Ads Aggregates industry classifieds. 32 Carved in Stone In a series of articles ‘From A to Z,’ diamond previously got top billing. Now, it’s dimension stone’s turn to shine.
May 2018
EDITORIAL
Vol. 23, No. 5
by Therese Dunphy, Editor-in-Chief, tdunphy@randallreilly.com
aggman.com /AggregatesManager /AggManEditor
Editorial Editor-in-Chief: Therese Dunphy Editorial Director: Marcia Gruver Doyle Senior Editor: Kerry Clines Online Editor: Wayne Grayson
Straight Talk on Safety
editorial@aggman.com
Design & Production Art Director: Sandy Turner, Jr. Production Designer: Timothy Smith Advertising Production Manager: Leah Boyd production@aggman.com
Construction Media Vice President, Construction Media: Joe Donald sales@randallreillyconstruction.com
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For change of address and other subscription inquiries, please contact: aggregatesmanager@halldata.com.
Aggregates Manager TM magazine (ISSN 1552-3071) is published monthly by Randall-Reilly, LLC copyright 2018. Executive and Administrative offices, 3200 Rice Mine Rd. N.E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35406. Subscription rates: $24 annually, Non-domestic $125 annually. Single copies: $7. We assume no responsibility for the validity of claims of manufacturers in any advertisement or editorial product information or literature offered by them. Publisher reserves the right to refuse non-qualified subscriptions. Periodical circulation postage paid at Tuscaloosa, Alabama and additional entries. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage retrieval system, without written permission of the copyright owner. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 507.1.5.2); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: send address corrections to Aggregates Manager, 3200 Rice Mine Road N.E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35406.
H
ow do you measure safety? It’s a question that has received a lot of attention around here these days. A few weeks ago, a story posted on www.aggman.com received numerous comments. The story was about an operator who reported it was celebrating a safety milestone at several plants. Since it’s our philosophy to share good news, we edited and posted the press release. Rather than the post serving as the end of the story, it was simply the beginning. Some industry readers quickly called foul. They noted these operations had injuries on the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s Mine Data Retrieval System that were categorized as days away Figure 1 from work over the time period in which they were to have achieved a no lost-time safety milestone. After several email exchanges requesting clarification, we received and shared the producer’s response. It was that, as an international cement producer, it uses the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s Cement Sustainability Initiative criteria to track and report safety in a consistent manner around the world. In a global business environment, maybe the use of a different evaluation system should have not come as a surprise. It did, however, force us to look at how we measure safety, particularly since our focus is clearly the North American market. For future clarification, the staff of Aggregates Manager considers any incident recorded as requiring days away from work in MSHA’s database to be a lost-time incident. The good news is that the industry has made serious progress. When I began covering the aggregates industry in 1991, the national injury rate for metal/nonmetal was 6.76. In 2017, it was 1.76, an all-time low, according to MSHA statistics. Similarly, the fatal injury rate has dropped from 0.0246 to 0.0067. Figure 1, shared by industry veteran and MSHA Senior Advisor Ed Elliott during the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association’s Annual Convention, shows the progress the industry has made in terms of both fatal and non-fatal injuries. These results reflect the sustained safety efforts of many companies, corporate leaders, plant superintendents, safety professionals, and plant employees. In terms of U.S. operations, it is the reporting criteria we will exclusively use. AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2018
3
mining
Company Cemex, S.A.B. de C.V.
Diesel Fuel
Prices 4/2/18
United States $3.042 One Week +0.032 One Year +0.486
New England $3.117 One Week +0.002 One Year +0.487
Central Atlantic $3.233 One Week +0.016 One Year +0.494
Lower Atlantic $2.938 One Week +0.040 One Year +0.433
Midwest $2.962 One Week +0.028 One Year +0.481
Gulf Coast $2.851 One Week +0.028 One Year +0.437
Rocky Mountain $3.044 One Week +0.053 One Year +0.421
West Coast $3.487 One Week +0.049 One Year +0.648
West Coast less California $3.202 One Week +0.055 One Year +0.467
California $3.714 One Week +0.045 One Year +0.791 Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (dollars per gallon, prices include all taxes).
$6.88
$6.43
52-Week High $10.37
CRG
$33.87
$32.15
$42.84
EXP
$102.31
$86.51
$122.49
Granite Construction Inc.
GVA
$57.60
$45.14
$68.58
HEI
$96.16
$94.17
$117.70
HCMLY
$10.78
$10.47
$12.59
Martin Marietta Materials, Inc.
MLM
$208.05
$191.09
$244.32
MDU Resources Group, Inc.
MDU
$28.38
$24.29
$28.54
Summit Materials
SUM
$29.70
$23.85
$34.06
United States Lime & Minerals, Inc.
USLM
$72.65
$70.56
$101.40
U.S. Concrete
USCR
$60.55
$58.45
$86.35
Vulcan Materials Co.
VMC
$116.99
$109.96
$141.20
Source: Wall Street Journal Market Watch. Currency conversion calculated on date of close 04/05/18.
COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
East Coast $3.066 One Week +0.028 One Year +0.461
52-Week Low
Eagle Materials Inc. HeidelbergCement AG
On-Highway
CX
Current Value
CRH plc
LafargeHolcim Ltd. ADR
U.S.
Ticker
H
eidelbergCement (HEI), benefitting from the successful integration of Italcementi, reported a 14-percent increase in 2017 revenues to $21.2 billion. “2017 was an exceptional year for HeidelbergCement,” said Dr. Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the company’s managing board. “In its history stretching back over 140 years, HeidelbergCement has never sold more cement, concrete, gravel, and sand than in 2017. New record figures were also achieved in revenue and result from current operations.” Taking into account the contributions of Italcementi for the first half of 2016, sales volumes rose moderately for aggregates and slightly for cement, with a slight decline in ready-mixed concrete. The company HeidelbergCement (HEI) noted the continued recovery in North America and Europe, as well as positive development in Australia and a turnaround in several emerging countries, as an underlying factor. Income taxes also increased significantly — to $742 million from $384 million in the prior year — with U.S. tax reform contributing significantly to the increase. In 2017, the company also introduced its Sustainability Commitments 2030, which define the key principles of its future sustainability strategy. The six focus areas include economic strength and innovation, occupational health and safety, ecological footprint, circular economy, relationships with neighbors, and compliance with legal standards and transparency. The company also aims to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent by 2030 (based on 1990 levels). Looking at 2018,HeidelbergCement notes that the International Monetary Fund predicts global economic growth, but also notes the risk of the faster-than-anticipated increase in inflation and interest rates in the U.S. and the downturn in the Chinese economy. Taken as a whole, the company projects increased sales volumes of its core cement, aggregates, and ready-mixed concrete products. “We are confident about 2018,” Scheifele said. “The outlook for the global economy is positive. Nevertheless, major macroeconomic and, particularly, geopolitical risks still exist. HeidelbergCement is globally well positioned for sustainable and profitable growth. Our strategy is clear: to achieve continuous growth, create long-term value for our shareholders, and safeguard high-quality jobs.”
Source: Market Watch
Data
STOCK REPORT
AGGREGATES INDUSTRY OUTLOOK The April Aggregates Industry Index fell 2.38 percent from March to 135.14. Responses were down slightly from an annual perspective: dropping1.2 percent from March for the industry’s outlook and 2.8 percent for the annual outlook of the respondent’s company. There were more significant drops seen in these categories when viewed against last year’s results. The annual industry outlook was down 5.6 percent from April 2017, and the company’s annual outlook was down 4.8 percent. These results were reported as the stock market experienced a tumultuous period, with many publicly held companies trading near their 52-week lows.
Aggregates Industry Outlook 150 145
139.94
138.89
140
134.60
132.37
135.14
133.44 128.38
135
138.44
130
135.06
133.61
125
129.35
120
129.36
115
121.69
110 105 100 April 2017
May 2017
The lack of commitment to fixing the Federal Highway Trust Fund is very frustrating. Meanwhile, in New York, the governor has forgotten upstate New York highways.
June 2017
July 2017
Aug. 2017
Sept. 2017
Oct. 2017
Nov. 2017
Dec. 2017
Jan. 2018
Feb. 2018
March 2018
April 2018
There has been an uptick in wind energy projects, and these will provide a boost in the aggregate market locally. — Russell Winn, Geologist, R.E. Janes Gravel Co.
— Bill Schmitz, Vice President, Quality Control and Sales, Gernatt Asphalt Products, Inc.
We are experiencing an economic wave that has not been seen in at least a decade. Bidding is very active, and, once the weather breaks, contractors are ready to commence operations. — Daryl Zeiner, Sales Manager, The H&K Group
Our weather has been terrible. It appears as though the asphalt plants, as well as contractors, are going to get a slow start. There has also been some consolidation in the local concrete market that may have a slight negative impact, in our particular case. Parts of our market are strong while others are suffering from lack of state funding. In all, I expect 2018 to pretty much mimic 2017, and that is not so bad. — Jon Thompson, President, Letart Corp.
Editor’s note: To join our panel, email Editor-in-Chief Therese Dunphy at tdunphy@randallreilly.com.
QUARTERLY CRUSHED STONE & SAND AND GRAVEL REPORT Region/Division
Northeast: Midwest:
South:
West:
New England Middle Atlantic East North Central West North Central South Atlantic East South Central West South Central Mountain Pacific TOTAL
Quantity Crushed Stone 4th qtr. 2017 10,200
Percent change
Percent change
3.1
Quantity sand and gravel 4th qtr. 2017* 6,510
35,300
6.5
11,300
-6.1
54,300
-1.5
28,200
2.8
29,700
-12.1
30,300
6.7
75,000
5.5
17,100
5.9
36,900
9
5,060
3.1
54,600
0.2
27,300
3.7
14,800
10.7
48,600
14
19,700
14.6
40,900
17.9
4
233,000
9.9
339,000
* thousand metric tons
15.4
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
ROLLOUTS
Your complete guide to new and updated equipment and supplies in the aggregates industry.
by Therese Dunphy | Editor-in-Chief | tdunphy@randallreilly.com
Standard line of screw washers Eagle Iron Works announces its new Condor line of screw washers. It features the standard Eagle Iron Works outboard bearings, rising current classifier, and adjustable weirs, but is built with a Class 1 Dodge reducer. It offers standard value line urethane flight shoes, with an option to upgrade to premium Eagle Armor shoes. Washer tubs are constructed with the same U.S. steel construction, capacities, and mounting points as the Classic Screw Washers. The Condor line is available in single- and dual-shaft models of fine material washers in 36-inch, 44-inch, and 54-inch sizes, as well as single- and dual-shaft models of coarse material washers in 30-inch, 36-inch, and 44-inch sizes.
Eagle Iron Works | www.eiwllc.com
Expanded quick-tensioning system Haver & Boecker introduces new configurations of its TyRail quick-tensioning system for screen media. It now offers three angle-box designs for different vibrating screen setups. The patented system is designed specifically for the manufacturer’s Tyler brand of vibrating screens and is now standard on all new F-Class and T-Class machines with three-bend tension rails. It also can be retrofitted onto older Tyler screens with three-bend tension rails. Each Ty-Rail package includes two tension rails, eight angle boxes, eight bolts, and all the hardware required to change one screen section.
Haver & Boecker | www.havercanada.com
Belt cleaner designed for aggregates Asgco rolls out a new model of its primary belt cleaners, the Pit-Skalper. The new design is specifically geared to handle the needs of aggregates and other construction materials, while providing cleaning to remove carryback from the conveyor belt. It uses the same patented E-Z Torque tensioner as the rest of the Skalper line. It features a stainless-steel spring, which allows the blades to self-adjust throughout the life of the blade. The tensioner and mounting tube are zinc plated for corrosion resistance, and the blades can be changed from one side of the conveyor belt to the other. The belt cleaner can be installed on any belt with maximum blade speeds of 600 feet per minute and a pulley diameter of 10 to 20 inches.
Asgco | www.asgco.com
6
AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2018
Compact sand plant offers portable option McCloskey Washing Systems debuts a new product line, the Compact Sand Plant (CSP), which includes the CSP 60, CSP 120, CSP 200, and CSP 250 single and twin sand plants. The manufacturer says the line enables superior separation efficiency, yields drip-free final washed sand product, and produces up to two in-spec sands — to the operator’s desired grade — at up to 250 total tons per hour. The plants can also be paired with the McCloskey S130 and S190 Tracked Rinsers for a portable wash plant option. The line is also said to offer quick assembly times and low operational and maintenance costs.
McCloskey Washing Systems | www.mccloskeywashing.com
Drill offers 290-degree reach The new Ranger DXi series top hammer drills, from Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, offer 592 square feet of drilling coverage and a powerful rockdrill. The rigs feature a revolving superstructure with a 290-degree reach. This saves time and minimizes the need to reposition the rig. Its counterweight structure ensures stability by maintaining weight opposite the boom. A low center of gravity and high tramming power make the rigs extremely mobile. Operator ergonomics and low cab noise are among the focus areas of the new cab, which also offers room for a trainer behind the operator seat.
Sandvik | www.rocktechnology.sandvik
AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2018
7
ROLLOUTS
Screening plants offer ease of mobility Kleemann introduces four new classifying screens: the track-mounted double-deck classifying screens MS 702i EVO and MS 952i EVO, and triple-deck classifying screens MS 703i EVO and MS 953i EVO. The two plants have a screening area in the upper deck of 75 or 102 square feet, respectively, and feature convenient transport dimensions and short setup times. The MS 702i/703i EVO has a maximum output of 386 tons per hour, and the MS 952i/953i EVO has an hourly output of up to 551 tons. The hopper can be fed by a wheel loader as well as an upstream crushing plant. Material on the wide conveyor is conveyed to a screen box. The screening angle on the box can be adapted to the application. An impact plate at the conveyor discharge is said to evenly distribute material on the screen surface. The plants are operated by a mobile control panel that can be installed at three different points on the machine for optimum visibility.
Kleemann | www.wirtgen.com
Mid-sized loaders offer fuel efficiency Volvo Construction Equipment unveils its mid-sized wheel loader innovations with the introduction of the L90H. The H-Series 2.0 machine is said to offer improved fuel efficiency, productivity, serviceability, and ease of use over its predecessor. New features include delayed engine shutdown, which reduces engine wear by avoiding hot turbo shutdowns; electro-servo hydraulic controls with adjustable sensitivity; torque converter lockup with selectable modes to lower rpm and increase speed; a new loader arm design for increased payload; slidable cooler for easier access; rim pull control to reduce wheel spin and slippage; an increased tipping load; a 3-inch higher dump height; external axle coolers; smart control; and smooth control. The L90H, as well as the updated L60H and L70H models, will be available in late summer.
Volvo Construction Equipment www.volvoce.com
8
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PLANT PROFILE by Kerry Clines | Senior Editor
Mining the Glades This Seminole-owned mine, surrounded by nothing but water and sawgrass, offers both advantages and challenges.
N
o one would expect to find a rock mine in the middle of the Everglades of southern Florida, but that’s exactly where you’ll find the Big Cypress Rock Mine. It’s owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida and is located on the tribe’s Big Cypress Reservation with Interstate 75 to the South and the small town of Clewiston to the North.
10
AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2018
The mine is surrounded by swamps and canals that provide homes for alligators, birds, and other wildlife, so it’s not unusual for the scalehouse operator to look out the window and see a panther or a black bear roam by.
The mine The mine is a small operation that opened roughly 20 years ago. A
100-plus-acre section has already been mined out and now holds the processing plant, surge pile, and stockpiles of processed material. A second section the same size is being mined presently, and another 200-plus acres is permitted for another mine. “We operate pretty much year round,” says Clyde Beckett, mine manager. “We stockpile in the winter and do
The Big Cypress Rock Mine, owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, digs up aggregate in the middle of the Everglades.
all our digging in the summer. Through the winter, when it’s dry, we’ll run all our material, make all our products, and get them ready, so we can stockpile them. The rain slows us down in the summer, so we process what we can in the winter to have it ready for the summer.” The mine employs about half a dozen people in the winter, but that changes
in the summer when the rainy season begins, and all the rivers to the north drain into the Everglades. That’s when the digging takes place and the mining ramps up. Summer means more equipment and additional employees. Before mining can begin, however, lots of prep work has to be done, including the placement of pumps to control the water level. “We have two pumps
in the area being mined that pump the water into a large holding area,” Beckett explains. “We regulate the water level with the pumps to keep it at a certain level, so that a lot of what we dig up is dry.” Once the water level is low enough, the rock is dug out with an excavator and placed on the ground to dry. It can take a week or so for the material to dry AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2018
11
PLANT PROFILE
Before mining can begin, lots of prep work has to be done, including the placement of two pumps to control the water level in the section being mined.
Material is stockpiled for the DOT to use on new rest areas being built along Interstate 75 just south of the mine.
enough to be moved to the processing plant where it gets crushed, screened, and placed in stockpiles. “The mine is owned by the tribe,” Beckett says. “We supply the reservation with whatever materials it might need, whether it’s for roads or house pads, but we also sell to outside companies. Because we are DOT-certified, we supply material for road work.” The mine also provides material to the South Florida Water Management District, which is always working on projects in the Everglades, repairing canals and dikes. “We just finished a contract for them where they got a couple thousand tons of material from us,” Beckett notes. The mine once owned all of its equipment, but has now moved toward leasing most of the large equipment on site. Through two-year leases, it gets new equipment every other year. “We just got a new track hoe and a new loader about five or six months ago,” Beckett says. “The new equipment is always up on MSHA standards, so we don’t have to worry when they do their inspections every six months.” Leasing the equipment has allowed the mine to cut down on maintenance costs, which were getting higher every year. Plus, newer equipment means fewer breakdowns and less downtime for the mine. “It just became easier to lease,” Beckett explains. “We lease from John Deere and Volvo. Of course, equipment still breaks down, but the leasing company comes right out to fix it, which is easier for us being so far out of the way.”
Challenges
In the processing plant, an excavator sits atop the surge pile feeding material into a screen, where it gets separated into different sizes and is stockpiled.
12
AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2018
The mine has faced many challenges over the years, one of which was the fact that there was no electricity in the mine when it first opened. Everything was run by generators for years. Electricity was only brought into the mine two years ago. The miners have also had to deal with an excess of honey bees. Beckett says they get into the equipment if it isn’t used for a while. They have had the bees removed, but they always turn up again
PLANT PROFILE
Those who are not from Florida might not be familiar with the Native Americans we call Seminoles. The Seminole people originate from the southeastern portion of North America and are descendants of the Maskókî peoples who lived throughout that area. The Seminoles first encountered white people when the Spanish arrived in the 16th century. The Spaniards brought with them all kinds of diseases, which quickly decimated the population of the tribes, but those who survived remained in Florida. Shortly after the United States government was established, it turned its eyes toward the Florida peninsula. During the subsequent violent removal of Seminoles to Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma, hundreds of tribal members, led by the medicine man Abiaki, retreated into the Everglades to continue fighting against U.S. colonization. During the war, thousands of Seminoles were deported and many more died in battle or along the route to Oklahoma. By the mid-19th century, military hostilities ended between the United States and the Seminole, though a formal peace treaty was never signed. The U.S. simply called it quits. The entire Seminole conflict had lasted more than 40 years and was the most costly Indian war ever fought by the government, both in terms of money and casualties. In 1938, the U.S. government set aside 80,000 acres in the Everglades as a reservation for the Seminoles. Then, when the government threatened to terminate services to the tribe in 1957, the tribe organized a
in another piece of equipment. “Years ago, there were bee hive boxes out here for them to nest in,” Beckett notes. “I guess it attracted them, and they never left, even when the boxes did. They get in the shakers, the stackers, anywhere they can. They get in such small places that, when the bee guys come, they can’t get them out.” But the biggest challenge the mine faces is the water. “We are in the Everglades, and there’s water all around us 24/7 everyday,” Beckett explains. “It’s a constant battle.”
Photo courtesy of Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum.
A bit of history
The Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum tells the story of the Seminoles and offers visitors a look at life in a Seminole village. Ah-TahThi-Ki means “a place to learn, a place to remember.”
formal government. The Seminole Tribe of Florida ratified a constitution and appointed a democratically elected Tribal Council. Today, citizens of the Seminole Tribe of Florida maintain their languages, culture, and traditions while looking toward the future. Visitors are always welcome on the reservations. Many come for the casinos and to watch the Seminole men wrestle alligators, but others come to learn more about the tribe’s culture and history. The Ah-Tah-ThiKi Museum, which means “a place to learn, a place to remember,” is located on the Big Cypress Reservation in Clewiston. It tells the story of the Seminoles. A boardwalk through the swamps behind the museum takes visitors back in time to an authentic living Seminole village made up of “chickees,” the thatch-covered buildings the Seminole lived in years ago.
When Hurricane Irma blasted its way through Florida in late 2017, it cut a path right through the Everglades, and the mine and reservation weren’t spared its wrath. Parts of the reservation and mine were flooded, and the wind caused a lot of damage. “Our shop was damaged, and we had damage to one of our pumps. A lot of trees were down across the road and around the scalehouse, too. But the rest was just the amount of water that came in on us,” Beckett notes. “All the canals were up to the road, and the canal that
runs beside the access road was over the road. The reservation was flooded, so they had pumps pulling it out, and that all came this way, too.” The mine and reservation are in the process of making repairs to buildings that were damaged by the hurricane, as are many others in Florida.
Life near the mine There are no problems with the surrounding community at the mine, because it’s in the middle of the Everglades. The nearest neighbors on AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2018
13
PLANT PROFILE
The mine is surrounded by swamps and canals that provide homes for wildlife, so it’s not unusual for the scalehouse operator to look out the window and see a panther or a black bear roam by.
Rockability.
the reservation are some ranchers, but the nearest town is several miles away. And those on the reservation are happy to have the mine, because it supplies the material they need for all kinds of projects. “There’s no issue there, unless we get a lot of dump trucks coming in that aren’t driving right, and the tourists get upset,” Beckett says. “We get a lot of tourists coming to the reservation to visit the Billie Swamp Safari and the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum, and school kids sometimes come to the reservation on buses to tour the museum.” The only neighbors that might be bothered by the operation are the wild animals that live around it. It’s not unusual to see bears, turkeys, deer, hogs, panthers, alligators, and all kinds of birds around the mine, but they don’t seem to mind the activity. They just stay away from it. “We’ll see them up the road, but they don’t mess with us, and we don’t mess
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AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2018
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PLANT PROFILE with them,” Beckett explains. “The pit area is all open, so they don’t usually come into it. But they’ll come around the scalehouse in the bushes and the areas on the outskirts. We see them when they cross from one bushy or wooded area to another. Part of our agreement is that we’re not allowed to touch anything on the other side of our access road, which helps protect the animals.” When it comes to environmental requirements, Big Cypress Rock Mine is under the same requirements as every other mine in the nation. It deals with the Environmental Protection Agency, the South Florida Water Management District, and, when they need a permit, the Army Corps of Engineers. “The tribe has departments that mirror those agencies, and they work with them to make sure all our permitting is done right,” Beckett says. “We’re surrounded by canals.
We mine near them, but not in them, and we don’t discharge into them. We have monitoring stations around the outside edge where the tribal water department takes samples to make sure the water is not too high and that there’s no sediment coming out of the pit into the canals.” The mine has to keep everything contained within its area of operation. When the water is pumped out of the pit, it goes into a large, 100-plus-acre area where it just seeps into the ground and gets filtered naturally. The area is surrounded by berms, so the water from the pit doesn’t run into the nearby canal. Once an area is mined out, it is reclaimed. The sides are sloped to a certain degree, and the rest is left up to the tribe. “That’s a long time in the future, though,” Beckett says. “We’ll be mining here for another 20 or 30 years. There’s still a lot to dig.” AM
Equipment List • John Deere 870G excavator • Volvo 290 excavator • John Deere 844K loader • John Deere 850 dozer • Powerscreen Warrior 1800 vibrating screen • MGL Engineering custombuilt vibrating screen • MGL Engineering custom-built crusher • Volvo A40 artic truck
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OPERATIONS ILLUSTRATED By Nathan Medcalf, Contributing Editor
Optimizing Workflow
Review your entire operation to determine the best opportunities.
Model any proposed changes in software to analyze and measure results.
Look beyond simply crushing operations to see what offers the most value.
OUR EXPERTS
Benchmark performance so you have a baseline of daily operations.
Johan Smet is general manager for Trimble’s Aggregates, Mining and Lifting Solutions Division. He joined Trimble in 2004 as director of finance for the Construction Division, and later moved into the role of director of marketing, overseeing the division’s marketing and product strategy. Smet holds an engineering degree from the University of Antwerp, Belgium, and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.
Jason Nichols has been a product marketing manager at Kespry for two years and has worked in geology for 15 years. He has a bachelor’s degree in geology from San Jose State University and a graduate certificate in geographic information science and technology from the University of Southern California – Spatial Sciences Institute.
Mat Hissa is a performance manager for aggregates at LafargeHolcim, where he has worked since 2015. He earned his mining engineering degree from Penn State and has more than 20 years of experience working in various aggregate and mining roles across the country. Prior to joining LafargeHolcim, Hissa spent three years in a large copper mine as superintendent over process control and improvement.
AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2018
17
The best ROI may not be where you expect
Q
uarries are large undertakings with tight margins, and workflow can determine how profitable a quarry is. Each step in a quarry’s workflow affects the next step. Significant gains can be made by harmonizing the output from one stage with the input needs of the next stage. Underproduction or overproduction at any stage can have a significant impact on later steps. In order to know your quarry is working efficiently, you have to be able to accurately measure many data points, including travel times, idle times, tonnage, stockpile heights, changes to stockpiles, and more. “We look at the entire workflow,” says Johan Smet, general manager for Trimble’s Aggregates, Mining and Lifting Solutions Division. “Where are the highest gains possible by applying technology? How do we connect all the parts of the operation together? And, how do we connect it to the outside world?” Consider the following tips on how to use data effectively to manage workflow. Benchmark your performance. You can’t know what changes are needed without a baseline of daily operations. Use every potential source, including production and throughput data from crushers and screens and data related to transportation. Watch for flooding or uneven loading over the surface of the screen and for feed segregation. These issues can often be solved by making changes to the machines feeding the crusher. Are belts loaded evenly? Is there any material loss? Belt scales
1
can reveal data, such as tons per hour, total tonnage, empty run times, and downtime error codes. Truck payload monitoring systems often measure distances and loading, unloading, and waiting times, as well as weight, which can be crucial information to determining the best workflow for your quarry. A quarry that ties weighing systems with production management software eliminates the need to manually track throughput and final tonnage. Examine everything. When a quarry wants to improve workflow, it’s easy to concentrate on the obvious aspects, such as crushing chamber performance, but crushing composes only about 5 percent of a quarry’s entire workflow. Your best value-creation opportunities may not be where you expect them to be. Model proposed changes. Before making any changes, model them using modeling software. This allows you to see and measure the results of potential changes before putting them into effect, enabling you to make even better decisions when it comes to optimizing workflow. Use a three-pronged approach. Changes should match three criteria: keep them simple, focus on return on investment (ROI), and make them part of a long-term plan. Operators should focus on a specific area of the quarry that needs improvements and has the biggest opportunity for ROI. Then use a long-term plan to schedule when to target different aspects of your operation for changes or investment.
Communication is key
In a modern quarry, all the pieces are connected to each other, to a central command station, and to the outside world. For example, trucks can communicate with loaders to let them know they are almost there, loader and truck weights can be communicated to the operations manager, and the operations manager can communicate with customers about when to send trucks.
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AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2018
2
Leverage scale data
Loader and truck scales can play an important part in gathering the data quarries need to make informed and intelligent decisions about workflow. Some scales not only measure weight, but also distances and loading, unloading, and waiting times.
3
Fully utilize assets
Workflow optimization aren’t always big-ticket items. Measure loads to make sure trucks are hauling as close to their maximum load as possible. Check tire pressure on all wheeled equipment daily to reduce wear and fuel consumption. Make sure roads are obstacle free and evenly surfaced.
4
Learn what data to review
At a quarry, there is potential to create millions of data points. Some of the data can help aggregates producers run their operation more productively, efficiently, and safely. Having technology that collects that data and then allows for the creation of reports from which important decisions can be made is crucial to a quarry’s success.
AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2018
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Voices of Experience Johan Smet
Jason Nichols
J
D
ohan Smet, general manager of Trimble’s Aggregates, Mining and Lifting Solutions Division, says he often sees how customers improve their workflow by leveraging information. In one case, a stationary crusher received material from various places, and production was hindered because it wasn’t always clear what was happening at the crusher. “There was poor communication between the crusher and the person sending trucks to the crusher,” Smet notes. The company installed a weighing system on the crusher that provided live reporting of production throughput, allowing people to remotely see the number of tons per hour and make real-time adjustments. Now, the company knows when to send trucks. At another operation, a mobile crusher traveled to different sites, with a different operator at each one. By using telematics on the crusher, the producer could watch remotely, both in real time and after the fact. The producer was able to observe operator habits and production. Insights gained allowed the company to conduct training that improved overall production rates and machine performance. A third site involved a quarry that was trying to increase output and had a bottleneck at the primary crusher. “At the blasting face, the quarry had one loader loading three trucks,” Smet says. “They knew the set up wasn’t optimal, but they had no data to measure the impact of any proposed changes. They deployed a Trimble truck monitoring system on their loaders and trucks. With it, they could break down the cycle time of the truck into each of its components — waiting to be loaded, being loaded, traveling to the crusher, waiting to dump, dumping, and traveling back to the face.” When the data was examined, they noticed the machines were bunching, which led to waiting at the loader and crusher. The information was shared with the operators who made a few changes to their operating habits, which resulted in a double-digit increase in productivity without buying or changing machines.
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AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2018
rone use is becoming more popular in quarries. They can survey an area and gather information faster than a person driving around in a truck. Manual surveys are typically completed every two weeks and only capture a few hundred points, but a drone can be dispatched daily and is capable of capturing millions of points with 0.8 inch of absolute accuracy. “Drones are useful tools for mine and quarry planning,” says Jason Nichols, product marketing manager, Kespry. “With them, you can map the land accurately without interfering with operations on the ground. A 20-minute flight can give you the baseline for a large aggregates or mining operation. Flights thereafter provide instant assessment for changing conditions.” The Kespry 2s can fly at 25 mph up to 150 acres autonomously on a single battery with no joysticks. As soon as the drone lands, it automatically uploads information to a secure online data processing and analytics platform. “It gives you the insight you need to make better, more informed decisions,” Nichols says. With accessible and accurate information that is updated daily, it is easy to respond to changes in operating conditions and make changes to the workflow. For example, the operator can see daily changes to inventory and evaluate if stockpiles are building faster than anticipated. He can also identify bottlenecks and consider solutions. Any changes in workflow are measured and reported daily, so the operator can quickly evaluate the benefits of those changes. In other cases, drones provide a volume calculation tool for instant analysis of stockpiled material, removed material, or material to be removed. Oftentimes, volumes are calculated in less than a minute. “All the data that you place into your system goes into a database, which is customized, and allows you to create customized reports based on the pile material, material type, skew, or several other identifiers,” Nichols says. “This data is also exportable into other software.”
Mat Hissa
“F
or an individual operation, changes to processing equipment are usually driven by a change in the deposit or market condition,” says Mat Hissa, performance manager for aggregates at LafargeHolcim. Because reserve deposits and markets are stable, processing equipment does not change frequently. Substantial changes to process flows are more likely to occur every five to 10 years. However, as a large organization with multiple operations across the U.S., LafargeHolcim almost always has some amount of process change occurring. At one site, the company installed a new crusher that helped reduce fines production in favor of a coarser size fraction (concrete stone). The benefit of this change was that it increased the yield of the deposit by reducing the amount of unsellable products. “Simple inventory forecasts showed the need to make a change, if possible,” Hissa says. “Additionally, sales and marketing were experiencing increases in requests for concrete stone.” Reserves can change dramatically in hardness, and subsequently change the wear and maintenance costs at a site. “Changes in the amount of deleterious materials in a reserve can swing in wide ranges forcing changes to process flows,” Hissa explains. “The maintenance condition of processing equipment can affect the mass flow and quality of a process. Weather conditions are often large contributors to hurdles in the process flows.” In considering changes to a site process flow, Hissa recommends evaluating the following data: • Reserve gradation and physical properties, • Existing processing flows product production by size, • Sales and inventory at the given site, • Potential markets for products by size fraction, • Operating hours and capacity per operated hour, and • The cost of goods by product produced.
EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT by Jeff Beck
Boost Screen
Throughput As capacity demands escalate, producers can increase deck capacity by adapting it to increase open area and efficiency.
A
s the aggregate market heats up, producers are faced with a dilemma they haven’t encountered in quite a while — how to quickly increase production. More often than not, the production increase has to come through existing equipment. Nowhere is that more felt than at plant screening stations. The aggregate industry has seen the proliferation of modular synthetic screening systems, both polyurethane and rubber. Originally, such systems offered tremendous increases in wear life, but usually at the cost of open area and thus production. Today however, manufacturers of modular screening systems offer panels that approach the open area of woven wire cloth media, as well as tackle severe blinding and plugging issues. With the improving construction economy, aggregate plants are being pushed beyond the capacities for which they
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AGGREGATES MANAGER / April 2018
were designed, and this will probably hold true for the foreseeable future. Even with advances in open area, modular screening system capacities are sometimes pushed to the limit by demand. Larger screening equipment is sometimes an option. Vibrating screen manufacturers have responded to requests for larger and larger units. Thirty years ago, 6- x 20-foot units were considered to be very large and 8- x 20-foot vibrators were just coming into widespread use. Many plants still had 4- x 12-foot and 5- x 16-foot decks in their plant flow. Today, larger producers are installing 10x 24-foot units, and we hear that 12-foot wide shaker decks are being designed. Unfortunately, these larger machines often require significant tower, conveyor, and/ or storage bin modifications that may not be possible on relatively short notice. Managers are, thus, forced to squeeze every possible ton out of existing plant
screening stations until larger equipment can be installed. Both wire cloth and synthetic screen media producers are stepping into this critical gap by offering various methods of converting all or portions of a modular deck back to wire cloth, thus recovering open area. There are two general methods to accomplish this. The first converts large sections of the modular deck back to
tensioned wire cloth. The second method allows for the insertion of modular wire cloth sections into the existing modular stringer system. An example of a system designed to convert portions of a modular polyurethane system back to woven wire cloth is Polydeck Screen Corp.’s crown adapter system. Crown adapters are inserted into its PipeTop II stringers to recreate
a crowned deck, as shown in Figure 1. Adapters come in nine different heights to recreate virtually any crowned deck configuration. A note of caution is in order here. If the shaker was retrofitted to a modular system from the original crowned wire cloth design, holes in the side plates for tension bolts and tension rails are probably already in place. Working with the
adapter supplier, you’re probably good to go in such instances. If, however, the shaker was fitted with a modular system at the factory, it is likely that holes for tension bolts are not there and will need to be drilled. In that case, it is essential that you check with the vibrator manufacturer for instructions. Drilling holes or welding without doing so could void the warranty on your vibratory equipment, AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2018
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so be sure to perform due diligence first. One additional cautionary note regarding retrofitting a modular system back to a crowned configuration: Material spread on the deck is enhanced on flat, modular systems. Manufacturers of modular systems correctly state that a flat deck may enhance efficiency in excess of 15 percent. Restoring the crown naturally tends to cause material to run toward the sides of the deck, reversing some of that flat deck efficiency. The second method involves substituting polyurethane panels into which wire sections have been inserted. Going this direction preserves the modular nature of the system and its inherent advantages, such as the ability to change out small sections that are worn, the option to make fine gradation changes by placing different openings in different areas, and avoidance of handling large wire cloth panels. One such system is the Polydeck Metaldex modular system, which features welded wire embedded
BC Sauder Company’s innovation for safety makes it easier to guard point of contact with it’s unique design for Return Roller Guarding. Offering two distinct models either baskets (for under 7 ft) or cages (for over 7 ft).
Photo courtesy of Polydeck Screen Corp.
EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT
Figure 1: One method to increase screen throughput is by installing crown adapters into stringers to recreate a crown deck.
into a polyurethane border as shown in Figure 2. The panels are available in 10 different apertures and can be used side-by-side with other pin-type modular panels.
Hoyt Wire Cloth’s ESE (Exchangeable Screen Element) or system offers an alternative method of converting modular polyurethane decks either temporarily or permanently back to wire cloth. The
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AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2018
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To change the system, screen panels are first removed.
The stringer system holding the modular panels is then cleaned of debris that might interfere with system installation, and the bases are installed.
Wire cloth panels, usually 1- by 4-foot, are then installed on the bases. A polyurethane cap then holds the panel securely in place.
The finished installation offers open area, as well as the ability to make special, shortrun products.
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EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT
Photo courtesy of Hoyt Wire Cloth
The ESE system can accommodate square opening wire cloth screens up to .500 wire diameter, perforated plate up to 1/2-inch thickness, as well as any type of self-cleaning screen. A variety of caps are available, including standard 85 durometer polyurethane, high-wearing polyurethane, standard rubber, and special rubber for high abrasion/large particle applications. The only “wear” components are the wire cloth panels and the polyurethane or rubber caps, thereby reducing component replacement costs. These are just three of the options available for converting modular decks, slot-type or pin-type, back to some form of woven wire cloth. There are others too numerous to mention here. Consult with your screen media supplier regarding options that might be available for your particular application. AM
Figure 2: Welded wires embedded on a polyurethane border offer a second method of increasing screen throughput.
polyurethane panels, either pin-type or slot-type, are removed from the section of the deck where the producer wishes to switch back to wire cloth. Note that, with
Jeff Beck is president of Hoyt Wire Cloth division of Lumsden Corp. and has more than 30 years of screen media application experience.
the ESE system, it must be downstream from the last modular panels. In other words, it must start at the discharge end of the shaker.
Cubee the Aggman
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Hydrocyclones Hyd droccyclon nes FFine in ne M Material ateriaal W Washers aashers Risingg Cu Current urren nt Se Separators eparato Dewatering Cyclo Cyclones FFines ines R Recovery ecovery Attrition n Scrubber ers
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onnect with the youth of your community through education. Whether you are sponsoring an open house or presenting in the classroom, Aggregates Manager community outreach tools make learning fun. “The Story of Cubee the Aggregate” Coloring Book Cubee and his aggregate friends take children on a magical journey from the quarry to the community to see how aggregates are used in our schools, roads, and structures. It’s a great story combined with 20 pages of coloring fun. For students in grades K-3. Prices range from $1.20-$1.85 per book, based on quantity. Customize books with your company logo!
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ROCKLAW Why Rulemaking Matters To stand the test of time, and changing administrations, MSHA’s initiative to reduce regulations should be made via rulemaking rather than policy.
O
Arthur M. Wolfson is a member in Jackson Kelly PLLC’s Pittsburgh office where he practices in the Occupational Safety and Health Practice Group. He can be reached at 412-434-8055 or awolfson@ jacksonkelly.com.
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n Oct. 23, 2017, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) posted on its website a request for “comments on MSHA regulations to repeal, replace, or modify.” Since then, MSHA representatives have spoken of this initiative at industry conferences and meetings across the country. The request is in response to the President’s Executive Order 13777, which directs each federal agency to reviews its regulations and assess how it can reduce regulatory burdens. Interested parties can e-mail recommendations to MSHA at the address listed on the website. The initiative certainly has laudable intentions. As any mine operator can attest, MSHA’s regulations have numerous requirements that have little practical safety benefit. The agency is often slow to recognize advances in technology. Certain regulations are a product of times gone by. Any effort by the agency to repeal obsolete regulations, modify existing regulations to keep pace with technology, or reduce regulatory burdens that do not yield a safety benefit should be fully supported by the regulated community. Mine operators and other interested parties would be wise to provide thoughtful responses to MSHA’s request for information. However, MSHA’s initiative to reduce regulatory burden will only have meaningful and lasting impact if the end game is notice-and-comment rulemaking by the agency. If MSHA opts to respond to the feedback it
AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2018
receives with only policy statements, any benefits will likely be fleeting. Statements of agency policy are non-binding and do not carry the force of law. As such, while the current MSHA leadership may follow its own policy pronouncements, future MSHA leaders in a different administration could erase those pronouncements with the stroke of a pen or simply choose not to follow them. And, reliance on such policy pronouncements provides an operator no legal recourse. Consider the case of King Knob Coal Co., Inc., 3 FMSHRC 1417 (Review Commission June 1981). Though decided over 35 years ago, it still rings true today. In King Knob, an operator’s pickup truck was cited for not having a backup alarm. The applicable surface coal standard, 30 C.F.R. § 77.410, required at the time that “Mobile equipment, such as trucks, forklifts, front-end loaders, tractors, and graders shall be equipped with an adequate automatic warning device which shall give an audible alarm when such equipment is put in reverse.” There was, however, an MSHA policy document in the form of a Mine Inspection Manual which addressed this requirement and stated, “The warning device required by this section need not be provided for automobiles, jeeps, pickup trucks, and similar vehicles where the operator’s view directly behind the vehicle is not obstructed.” In King Knob, the pickup truck in question did not have a backup alarm, but its rear view
was unobstructed. MSHA cited the operator for a violation of But, if the administration and — by extension — the current § 77.410. The operator contested the citation, arguing that its MSHA leadership hope to achieve lasting regulatory reform, the truck was exempted from the backup alarm requirement in light hard work is worth it. The regulated community should get beof the policy document addressing pickup trucks with unobsthind MSHA’s initiative at reducing regulatory burdens, and the ructed views. Both the administrative law judge and the Review agency should respond with rulemaking to put the suggestions Commission rejected the company’s argument and upheld the it receives into action. AM citation. The Commission held that, because the policy document’s exception for pickup trucks with unobstructed views was not promulgated through notice-and-comment rulemaking, it “lack[ed] the force and effect of law and § 77.410 stands as written.” Thus, because the truck lacked an alarm, the violation stood. Subsequent Commission case law has followed suit and established that statements of policy have no binding effect and lack the force of law. See The American º Commission August 2012); D.H. Blattner & Sons, Inc., 18 FMSHRC 1580, 1586 (Review Commission September 1996); Consolidation Coal Co., 22 FMSHRC 455, 466 (ALJ Feldman March 2000)(citing Utah Power & Light Co., 12 FMSHRC 956, 969 (Review Commission May 1990)). Conversely, a rule It’s not just a that is officially promulgated through noquality product, tice-and-comment rulemaking constitutes it’s the people who a binding norm that does impose a legal requirement on both the regulated commake it. You have munity and the agency. See Drummond our commitment: Co., Inc., 14 FMSHRC 661, 684 (Review finding a solution to Commission May 1992). problems you face Rulemaking is time consuming and every day. You have difficult. It requires the agency to weigh my word on it. evidence and suggest thoughtful and well-reasoned proposed rules. It then Kyle Fox, requires the agency to listen to and read Facilities Manager comments which may present varying viewpoints, consider countervailing positions, and ultimately promulgate final rules that account for this input. Pursuant to § 101(a)(9) of the Mine Act, MSHA must ensure that any promulgated standard does not reduce the level of safety proinfo@unifiedscreening.com tection offered by an existing standard. www.unifiedscreening.com Final rules may then be subject to legal 866.968.3697 challenges, which must then be defended in court.
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AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2018 4/11/18 10:20 AM
ADINDEX May 2018 Advertiser
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Boston Sand & Gravel
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Cardinal Scale
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ClearSpan Fabric Structures
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CRISP Industries Inc.
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Cubee
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Elrus Aggregate Systems
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Hillhead
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Kruse Integration
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ME Elecmetal
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Met Pro
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NSSGA
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Polydeck Screen Corporation
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Progressive Commercial
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SANDVIK
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Sweet Manufacturing
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Unified Screening & Crushing
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Wirtgen America, Inc.
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Experience: Retired November 2011 following 41 years with the U.S. Geological Survey • USGS Aggregate Resource Geologist 1977-2011 • Past Chair and Distinguished Service Award recipient, Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Industrial Minerals and Aggregates Division • Author of ASBPE award-winning columns - Carved In Stone, Aggregates Manager, 1998-Present
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Bill-Langer@researchgeologist.com www.researchgeologist.com AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2018 BillLanger_AGRM0115.indd 1
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12/14/16 8:54 AM
CARVED IN STONE
Bill Langer is a consulting research geologist who spent 41 years with the U.S. Geological Survey before starting his own business. He can be reached at Bill_Langer@hotmail.com
D is for Dimension Stone In a series of articles ‘From A to Z,’ diamond previously got top billing. Now, it’s dimension stone’s turn to shine.
A
bout eight years ago, I wrote a two-year series of articles with the overall theme “From A to Z.” I used the alphabet to describe terms related to aggregates and industrial minerals. The first article, perhaps no surprise, was “A is for Aggregate.” The fourth article was “D is for Diamonds.” The article actually was about the dimension stone industry and how it has been impacted by industrial diamonds. I feel bad about slighting dimension stone in the title of the article, so today, I revisit the subject and give dimension stone top billing. Dimension stone can be grouped into three overlapping classes based on whether the stone is naturally occurring and used without further treatment, or if it is cut, trimmed, sawed, or polished. Naturally occurring dimension stone includes blocks or slabs that have naturally weathered out of local bedrock, as well as large cobbles or boulders. These are referred to as fieldstone, which are gathered from the land surface and used to make stone walls, build fireplaces, and so forth. Paving blocks are small brick-shaped blocks of granite used to pave areas of heavy traffic and in reclaiming streets in historic areas. Flagstones consist of thin slabs of stone used for paving. Flagstone may be used in irregular shapes or may be cut or split into rectangular shapes. Ashlar, one of the most common types of Fine-grained sandstone and slate are the most common type of flagstone. cut and trimmed dimension stone, is often Ashlar are small blocks of stone that are split into rectangular shapes used for building facades, hearthstones, or fireplaces. with a power wedge called a guillotine. Ashlar may be of modular or random sizes, resulting in building facades, hearthstones, or fireplaces with either regular or unequally spaced joints and a seemingly endless variety of designs. Ashlar is one of the most common types of cut and trimmed dimension stones. Roofing slate is used in new construction and in the restoration of older buildings. Mill stock slate is smooth finished slabs of slate that are used for billiard tables, blackboards, countertops, and other applications. Sawed and polished blocks of stone include grave markers, mausoleums, and elaborate structures, such as the Washington Monument. Let’s not forget about carving stone — the marble, granite, tuff, serpentinite, travertine, and alabaster; rocks commonly used by artisans to create statuary ranging in size from desktop pieces of art to grand monuments such as the Lincoln Memorial. A relatively new product is a lightweight, very thin reinforced stone veneer panel laminated to a backing material. The new products have led to new applications for design, including outfitting of luxury yachts, and has brought attention to translucency, a previously unrecognized property of stone. Automated cutting and polishing machines, and the use of industrial diamonds (as I pointed out years ago), have reduced the price to where stone can be used in many residential applications. Slabs of stone can be cut into square or rectangular shapes that can be used for tile, counter tops, and building facades that we see almost every day as we visit banks, department stores, and other public buildings. I absolutely love looking at those stone slabs, and don’t even mind waiting for assistance at a store if I can gaze into polished rock countertops or study the vein patterns in the floor tiles while lingering around. I also find the names of polished rock fascinating — monikers like Ametista, Cosmos, Marrakech, Rapakivi, Tempest, and Zeus. Ametista to Zeus. There you go. Dimension stone from A to Z. AM
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