Three new pieces of kit are revolutionising production in Broadspectrum’s Northland quarries in New Zealand.
Broadspectrum, formerly known as Transfield Services, undertakes civil and engineering projects in 20 countries around the world.
In the Northland region on NZ’s North Island, seven local quarries are supporting road projects. Their production has been boosted by the arrival of Kleemann mobile gear from distributor Wirtgen.
Broadspectrum acquired these Northland quarries, along with a number of key maintenance contracts, when it took over McBreen Jenkins in 2008.
In the past couple of years, Broadspectrum has renewed road maintenance contracts with the Thames Coromandel District Council, Kaipara District Council and the Far North District Council’s southern ward.
Other maintenance contracts include the West Waikato Network Outcomes Contract (NZ Transport Agency state highway), Auckland Transport (AT) South Rural, and AT Northwest Urban. Broadspectrum also undertakes construction projects from its bases in Waikato, Auckland and Northland.
In Northland, 70 per cent of the company’s aggregate is quarried at its Puketona site, which is located between Paihia and Kerikeri. The aggregate is mostly greywacke with a scoria and basalt intrusion, which is also extracted and processed into drainage products.
Quarries manager Neil Cates said that while the quarries largely support their own road projects, about 75 per cent of aggregate sales are to external customers.
“When I took over the management of the quarries, I wasn’t enthusiastic,” he recalled. “I have a construction background and thought I’d be here for a short while to temporarily fill a vacancy and then move on. That was eight or nine years ago now, and I absolutely love it
– the quarries, the industry, the people!
“My goals have been to grow the business by providing quality products and great service to our customers, and show senior management that our quarries’ business is worth investing in.
“Our purchase of two Kleemann crushers and a Kleemann screen was our first major investment in 10 years, which highlights
the commitment to the future of our quarries business.”
Cates was first introduced to Kleemann’s mobile plant range when he attended a Quarry NZ annual conference in Hamilton. “I looked it over and was impressed – being German-engineered, it was superbly put together. Along with being high quality, it was competitively priced, which surprised me,” he said.
“I then went out and saw them working. I was impressed with their output and with what the operators had to say about them.
“On top of that, the support network out of Australia gave me confidence that this brand was a good choice. The combination of all this was ideal.”
After quite a bit of work from Cates and others at Broadspectrum, the company bought a Kleemann MC110Z EVO jaw crusher, a MR130ZS EVO2 closed circuit impact crusher, and a MS13Z scalper screen.
The Puketona quarry manager John Batters said the new impact crusher was largely used to make general GAP products, and the two crushers work together to make products for the wash plant, 30/10 drainage chip, sealing chip, and concrete aggregate. The jaw crusher also makes gabion and drainage aggregates.
“In my time in the industry I’d never before used an impact crusher,” Batters said of the MR130ZS EVO2. “But I have to say I’ve been really impressed with it. The performance of the Kleemann gear has been well above what we expected. And it’s not only the volume that’s great, the products are good quality too.
“In the first hour we had the impact crusher running, we processed 280 tonnes – this was above even what the Kleemann guys had specced the gear for. I was certainly amazed – our old gear would have taken around two and a half hours to generate that amount.”
Production volume has certainly been a wow factor with the entire team, but what really stands out are the safety features.
“On the impact crusher, if you’ve missed something during set-up – not unfolded the conveyor, for example – it won’t start. It’ll tell you what the problem is, and you need to fix it before it will run,” Batters added. “The lockout system is great. If you want to open up the machine you can’t unless the key has been removed. You simply can’t start the machine while it’s open.”
Cates agreed the safety features are outstanding. “Whether you’re unblocking the jaw or accessing the machine for service, safety is a priority of the design.”
Cates and Batters complimented the quality of the machines’ engineering, saying the designs are well thought out, eg ladders and platforms are all in the logical places, the gear is spacious, it is fuel-efficient, and all the electric conveyors remove the need for hydraulic hoses.
Cates also sang the praises of Wirtgen sales manager for mineral technologies, Gary Payne, who sold them the Kleemann plant.
“I’m really happy with what Gary’s done. He’s great to deal with, offers good support, and answers questions promptly. He’s also very experienced and trustworthy. The production figures he gave us for the Kleemann gear were realistic, and his advice was sensible. It took four years to get this deal across the line. But now that it’s all here and working, we’re thrilled with our purchase.”
Source: Wirtgen Australia. Story courtesy of Quarrying & Mining NZ. Visit quarryingandminingmag.co.nz