Skip to main content

New machinery helps boost quarry production

A quarry in the US has managed to boost production by around 30%, thanks to the acquisition of new equipment. Replacing the old crusher at the Lafarge Pitt River Quarry has made a massive increase in production capacity, helped by improvements to the existing crushing circuit. ELRUS Aggregate Systems provided advice on optimizing throughput, with the facility further improved with the addition of a new CH660 cone crusher from Sandvik Construction.
July 28, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
With a realigned crushing circuit, output efficiency has also been increased at the Pitt River facility, which produces 1.5-2 million tonnes/year of material that is then shipped out by barge
A quarry in the US has managed to boost production by around 30%, thanks to the acquisition of new equipment. Replacing the old crusher at the Lafarge Pitt River Quarry has made a massive increase in production capacity, helped by improvements to the existing crushing circuit.

ELRUS Aggregate Systems provided advice on optimizing throughput, with the facility further improved with the addition of a new CH660 cone crusher from 2403 Sandvik Construction.

The Pitt River facility is a key unit and for 3180 Lafarge in North America and is located some 50km west of Vancouver. That places it within the Vancouver metro area, which is a big market for the quarry. Situated near the banks of the Pitt River, it ships out 1.5-2 million tonnes of aggregate/year, loading either river barges or trucks with the prized product. Reserves at the quarry are expected to last for the next half century.

In 2013 operations at the granite quarry were running smoothly, churning out 900tonnes/hour of high-quality aggregate used in asphalt and concrete applications. When a main frame cracked on the existing cone crusher, the firm looked at options to replace the quaternary unit, which was too old to warrant repair. Among the offered solutions was one provided by ELRUS Aggregate Systems, the Sandvik Construction dealer for western Canada, which had supplied the quarry’s secondary crushing unit, a Sandvik S6800.

ELRUS believed a common platform unit to the S6800, the Sandvik CH660 stationary cone crusher, would be a good fit for the crushing system. After studying several flow sheets, the firm also proposed rearranging the line-up of machines to take advantage of the CH660’s finer product. The company suggested relocating the tertiary crusher to replace the damaged cone crusher and the CH660 then to carry out the third-stage crushing, offering a predicted increase in output of at least 10-15%.

The CH660 went on line as a tertiary crusher, and the benefits have exceeded expectations with the quarry experiencing a 30% increase in aggregate output, reaching 1,200tonnes/hour. Another advantage for Lafarge Pitt River Quarry is better maintenance scheduling. Because of increased production rates, the quarry can afford regular planned maintenance interruptions, which also avoid costlier overtime repair work.

Systematically maintaining the machinery has other positive implications for the company as now the maintenance occurs regularly, budgeting for it is regular, too, with the cost being spread throughout the year rather than coming in surges at sometimes inconvenient times.

The CH660 also benefits from more efficient power transfer to the crushing chamber, deriving from Sandvik’s Hydroset technology coupled with the ASRi automation system that maintains optimum reduction despite wear.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Sila's Sandvik Thai success
    July 17, 2012
    The Sila Sanon limestone quarry in Thailand is playing a key role in providing high quality aggregates for the growing Thai construction industry.Recently the family-owned operation has invested in a full range of crushing and screening plant supplied by Sandvik Construction’s dealer in Thailand, the William Wong Group, and the quarry is now able to supply over 200,000tonnes of accurately sized materials on a monthly basis. The Sila Sanon Quarry in Saraburi Province, just over 100km north of the capital Ba
  • Emergent aggregates market vitality
    March 12, 2014
    New research shows the vital importance of emerging markets to the aggregate production industry, while leading aggregate production equipment manufacturers have brought new cutting-edge models onto the market. Meanwhile, recent equipment purchases are playing a key role in boosting the commercial success of customers in France and Malta. Guy Woodford reports Demand for construction aggregates in the Asia/Pacific and Africa/Middle East regions is fuelling global aggregates sales growth, according to the
  • Innovations in crushing and screening technology boosting efficiency
    July 15, 2015
    The crushing and screening sector has seen a flurry of new model launches in recent months, with a series of new equipment introductions - Mike Woof writes. Crushing and screening systems play a vital role in the overall cost effectiveness of a quarrying operation. Ensuring that a quarry runs efficiently relies heavily on the appropriateness of the entire crushing and screening set-up for the material input, the output grades and the compatibility of each separate unit. Mobility has been a key issue in rece
  • Powerful cone crushing
    February 16, 2012
    Sandvik Mining and Construction has introduced two new crushers to its product range. The CH890 and CH895 are said to offer greater structural strength as well as using proven technologies. Designed to increase performance in both secondary and tertiary crushing applications, these units feature more power and increased crushing forces in order to increase productivity. The CH895 has a specially designed, strength-optimised topshell as well as dedicated crushing chambers, which best suits it to tertiary and