Load & Haul

Kimberley producer tops up its hire fleet with mobile jaws

The Kimberley and Pilbara regions of Western Australia and the Northern Territory are some of the hottest, most remote areas of Australia, where the faint hearted do not venture, let alone maintain a professional, diverse contracting business for nearly 20 years. The Kimberley Quarries team thrives in this hostile, competitive environment.

Since 2000, Kimberley Quarries has become a successful company with extensive experience supplying products and services to the mining and construction industries. The company operates the Nillibubbica Quarry, 100km east of Broome and contracts out quarrying, mobile crushing and screening, drill and blast and equipment hire in the Kimberley, Pilbara, and mid-west regions, and the Northern Territory.

Kimberley Quarries promotes a quality service and continually produces high specification products for clients with a focus on repeat business. It is a quality assured company, maintaining an excellent safety record, good customer relations and consistent supply of quality products.

The company has many years of material supply to a regional customer base that includes Mineral Resources Western Australia, numerous shires and private contractors developing highly specified infrastructure projects like airports.

Some of Kimberley Quarries’ large repeat business clients include the major construction materials houses of Boral, Holcim and Adelaide Brighton, which have all utilised the contract quarrying and crushing services for the numerous quarries in the region. They have also engaged the business on major infrastructure projects at Wheatstone, Cape Preston, Cape Lambert, Gorgon Projects and Tindal Airbase, with highly specified products supplied and challenging quarantine requirements met.

Kimberley Quarries has 12 quarry managers, eight of whom have in excess of 20 years’ quarrying experience. The management team recognises the importance and benefits of a well trained work force and believes training increases productivity, improves quality, promotes a better safety culture and fosters more job satisfaction. As a result, there has been a very low turnover of employees that has lead to the continuity of an experienced team.

Upgrading the mobile fleet

After many years of working its equipment hard in an extremely challenging environment, the company considered replacement options for its ageing primary jaw crushers. Its research lead to Tutt Bryant Equipment (TBE), the national distributor of Metso’s Lokotracks. With a few local references to draw from, the Kimberley Quarries management decided to purchase the Lokotrack LT120 jaw crusher.

“The key points that lead to this decision was the machine’s safety, high power crushing, ease of maintenance and its transportability,” Kimberley Quarries’ Pilbara area manager Dave Young said.

Metso’s uncompromised safety approach to the LT120 has led to feed hopper side wedges being hydraulically secured from the ground. The Metso IC control unit provides a safe and easy operation. All conveyors have lanyards attached on the sides, with the ability to be switched for isolating the unit during maintenance. Proper stairs and access platforms create a safe working environment.

A reliable, efficient mobile crushing plant is a sum of several factors working together smoothly. The new Metso C120 jaw crusher, with its 1200mm x 870mm (47 x 34”) feed opening, provides more capacity in the toughest applications. The hydraulic drive encourages trouble-free operation and enables the crusher direction to be changed in case of blockage. The Caterpillar C13 Acert engine module provides optimal power to the high inertia flywheels.

Quick, easy maintenance was a major driver in the Lokotrack LT120’s design. The jaw die bolts are easily accessible, and the composite covers protecting the flywheels can be safely and easily opened. Good access and proper platforms make a difference in daily operational safety.

Thanks to compact dimensions combined with agile tracks, the Lokotrack LT120 is a very portable unit. The chassis design with good clearance at both ends enables simple loading onto a trailer. The feed hopper sides equipped with a patented securing system allow the unit to be ready for crushing only moments after arriving on-site. The side conveyor stockpiling capacity can be easily installed on either side of the unit.

TBE’s Metso technical support team delivered and commissioned the first LT120 unit to Kimberley Quarries in January 2018. Within a few weeks of operation, Kimberley Quarries placed the order for another unit, which arrived in Perth in March 2018. TBE’s WA branch service team performed a quick turnaround, preparing the unit for immediate dispatch to another project. Both units have since exceeded more than 1000 hours of operation each.

TBE continues to support the business with parts and service support as required, much to Young’s satisfaction. “The Tutts guys have really looked after us and the machines are performing better than expected,” he said.

Source: Tutt Bryant Equipment

Leave a Reply

Send this to a friend