Quarry Jul 2019

A recycler is setting a new bar with high end products from materials the industry rejects

JULY 2019

SUN SHINES ON PRODUCER’S LATEST ASSETS

STRIKING GOLD WITH QUARRY-SPEC HAULERS

One of Australia’s largest recycling producers flicks the switch on two high tech plants

How a fleet of articulated trucks have transited from quarrying to underground mining

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REPURPOSE IT: CARVING ITS NICHE

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OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF QUARRYING AUSTRALIA

Scan the QR code or visit Doosan Equipment online: www.clarkequipment.com/brands/doosan www.doosanequipment.com/whoisdoosan

IN THIS ISSUE JULY 2019

VOLUME 27, ISSUE 07

FEATURES 20 CRUSHER BUCKET, ECOMATERIAL SLASHES COSTS Additive chemicals for recycling spoil, coupled with an excavator attachment, promises savings for residential, commercial and industrial building.

28 COMPACT CRUSHERS’ KEY ROLES IN RECYCLING JOBS Mobile impactors prove their worth in different jobs, including paving the way for Terex’s latest facility.

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CARVING A NICHE A recycler is setting a new bar with high end products from materials the industry rejects.

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‘URBAN MINING’ Earthworks company employs the latest data solutions for its landfill and recycling operation.

36 SEPARATORS DELIVER MORE RECYCLABLES A circuit of metal separators and vibratory feeders is processing 1000 tonnes per month of plastics, metals, textiles and more into end products.

37 DUST CONTROL OPTIONS FOR WORKERS, PLANT The quarrying industry has a good record in protecting workers from dust exposure but there are further options to bolster their health and well-being.

38 MINE SAFETY: IS IT TOO MUCH, TOO FAR? Compared to yesteryear’s horrors, Paul Skidmore argues modern safety is a positive and inclusive process.

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‘GREEN THUMB’ A quarry-spec mobile screen does its bit for the gardening and homeware market.

A recycler is setting a new bar with high end products from materials the industry rejects

40 MINE STRIKES GOLD WITH QUARRY-SPEC HAULERS

One of Australia’s largest recycling producers flicks the switch on two high tech plants.

A fleet of articulated haul trucks have successfully made the transition from quarrying to underground mining.

JULY 2019

SUN SHINES ON PRODUCER’S LATEST ASSETS

MINE SAFETY: IS IT TOO MUCH, TOO FAR?

One of Australia’s largest recycling producers flicks the switch on two high tech plants

Why safety is a positive and inclusive process – compared to the horrors of yesteryear

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REPURPOSE IT: CARVING ITS NICHE

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OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF QUARRYING AUSTRALIA

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RAY OF SUNSHINE

COVER ADVERTISER: The Volvo CE A45G articulated hauler has been refitted for underground mine specifications in WA’s Goldfields region. For more information, turn to page 40 or visit: cjd.com.au

EVERY MONTH 04 FROM THE EDITOR

44 IQA NEWS

06 FROM THE PRESIDENT 08 NEWS THIS MONTH

News from the three Queensland and South Australian branches

12 PRODUCT FOCUS

45 FROM THE IQA CEO

42 IQA CALENDAR

50 GEOLOGY TALK A new age of robotics and automation

Quarry July 2019 3

EDITORIAL

WHY CAN’T QUARRIES BE RECYCLERS TOO?

A

s we went to press, an “annual” story in the mainstream media amused me – Victoria is “running out of sand, rock and gravel” (shock, horror!).

The Herald-Sun started the story and Melbourne radio station 3AW interviewed John Kilgour of the Civil Contractors Federation (CCF). Kilgour said the slow pace of government reforms to approve new reserves – in response to increasing demand, housing density and population growth – would create cost blowouts in project work.

It may be “news” to News Corp and Fairfax; it’s not to the quarrying industry. This story is often “recycled” in jurisdictions, from Victoria to New Zealand to the USA. This time last year I had to correct my media peers in this column by emphasising that Victoria – like all of Australia – doesn’t have an “aggregate shortage”. The reserves are there but supply is stalled because governments won’t plan for the future, ie any period beyond two electoral cycles.

This is where the role of the recycled aggregates industry is important.

There are exciting developments in the recycling space. In late May, I visited two of them in Victoria: Repurpose It’s construction and demolition (C&D) materials washing plant (page 14) and Alex Fraser Group’s new glass and asphalt recycling plants (page 30).

These projects are contributing to the “heavy lifting” in Victorian infrastructure, covering the slowness of new approvals.

To credit them, state governments and statutory bodies recognise that to protect reserves, they should not only invest in the recycling space but also use recycled materials in public projects. In Victoria, many developments (eg Victoria’s Level Crossing Removal Project) are conserving spoil for reuse.

For example, rail ballast, once washed, can be potentially returned to the rail network. If it doesn’t meet spec, another use will be found.

Similarly, spoil from the NorthConnex project is being reused in residential 4

Quarry July 2019

and project sites across Sydney.

quarrymagazine.com

However, from a reading of the National Waste Report 2018 (prepared for the Federal Department of Environment and Energy), it seems most jurisdictions could do more to ease the burden on quarries through swifter approvals and raising C&D recycling rates (beyond arbitrary targets). They could consider incentives that encourage quarries to develop their own recycling streams (prolonging the life of their reserves). For example, dried residuals from the sand washing process or fine crusher dust could be sold as structural fill in low level applications. Concrete, brick, glass and overburden could be processed on-site to create manufactured sand.

Official publication of the Institute of Quarrying Australia

Perhaps grants or subsidies should be available for quarries that purchase plant and equipment for specific recycling purposes. Fixed, modular and mobile plant often straddles recycling and quarrying lines (eg crushers, screens, conveyors, trommels, wash plants).

Further, it’s clear from the waste report that many of its statistics do not include the overs and by-products of mining, electricity and asphalt operations (eg coal combustion products, fly ash). This implies there is a “hidden” market that quarries could exploit.

Encouraging more participation by quarries in the recycling space could ease the issue of supply for brownfield sites while bureaucracy fiddles on new greenfield applications. The concerns of Kilgour, the CCF, other industry bodies and the broader industry should never be discounted, and quicker, simpler access to new reserves of virgin materials should always be encouraged.

However, the reforms to new approvals will take time (and probably then some).

Programs to incentivise quarries to diversify their materials handling operations would alleviate demand while opening new income streams. Why can’t all quarries potentially be recyclers too?

DAMIAN CHRISTIE Editor

Publisher Coleby Nicholson Associate Publisher Angela Han

SHOULD THE STATES INTRODUCE INCENTIVES FOR QUARRIES TO DEVELOP THEIR OWN RECYCLING STREAMS?

Editor Damian Christie damian.christie@quarrymagazine.com Journalist Tim Robertson tim.robertson@gunnamattamedia.com Advertising Sales Toli Podolak sales@quarrymagazine.com

Quarry is published by: Gunnamatta Media Pty Ltd Locked Bag 26, South Melbourne, VIC 3205 AUSTRALIA Phone: +61 3 9696 7200 gunnamattamedia.com info@gunnamattamedia.com Design & Production Manager Jo De Bono art@gunnamattamedia.com Accounts Paul Blewitt finance@gunnamattamedia.com Subscriptions info@gunnamattamedia.com Press releases damian.christie@quarrymagazine.com Copyright: All material appearing in Quarry is subject to copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly forbidden without prior written consent of the publisher.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by authors are not necessarily those of the publisher. All statements made, although based on information believed to be reliable and accurate at the time, cannot be guaranteed and no fault or liability can be accepted for error or omission.

Gunnamatta Media Pty Ltd strives to report accurately and fairly and it is our policy to correct significant errors of fact and misleading statements in the next available issue. Any comment relating to subjective opinions should be addressed to the editor where the opposing position may be published to encourage open debate.

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PRESIDENT’S REPORT

CHALLENGING OURSELVES, OUR RECORDS ON SAFETY The Institute of Quarrying

G

uarding, ground control, unplanned movement of plant, respirable crystalline silica, competency …

These are all issues that I’m seeing and hearing on a regular basis in our industry, many of which (of course) I’d prefer not to be hearing about on such a frequent basis.

I had the pleasure of speaking at the 17th annual Quarrying Safety and Health Conference in Brisbane last month.

In preparation for the conference, and reflecting on the previous 12 months, I have to ask myself the question: Given the regulation we work under, industry information and training available and as an industry which has traditionally been an engaged one on issues relating to safety, why are we not doing better?

Logic tells me to assess both what we’re doing well and what we need to improve on. Again, thinking along these lines turned my attention to the positives and challenges in the industry with respect to safety.

On the positives, we see some fantastic innovations and initiatives coming from the industry, many of which are presented at events throughout the year, or published in Quarry.

The industry has many experienced people and many quarries have excellent content and training packages which are delivered with respect to safety. Industry organisations and registered training organisations also offer relevant and affordable training for the construction materials sector.

On the challenges, however, we’ve seen a decline in training course take-up within the IQA over the past year, and it’s a trend which is a downward one.

We’re all busy, doing more with less I’m sure you’ve all heard that one!

We’re seeing many long-term industry people retire and the economy has been somewhat challenging for the

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Quarry July 2019

Australia

construction materials sector, especially in the lead-up to the recent federal election.

I certainly don’t have the answer but we’re obviously not doing enough not doing enough for ourselves, our workmates, our employers and the industry.

Murray Riches, an Inspector of Mines in Queensland, said it best a few years ago at the annual Queensland Safety and Health Conference.

“It’s not us at these events we need to be talking to,” he said, “it’s those who are not here, not engaged or not giving this type of forum the attention it deserves.”

My challenge is for us to use our networks and take home the key messages we receive and get more people talking about safety - but it’s not just safety in general, it’s about what can we do to “do better”.

It’s the million dollar question: How do we engage with the absent people?

Mandatory competencies is one response from the Queensland regulator, a lifting of the bar, but do we need to go further?

Has New Zealand got it right with its mandatory CPD model?

Again, I’m not suggesting we have the answers but we need to be challenging ourselves and our current performance.

We all have that responsibility!

Have a safe and productive month ahead.

CLAYTON HILL President Institute of Quarrying Australia

Educating and connecting our extractive industry

quarry.com.au AS AN INDUSTRY ENGAGED IN SAFETY, WHY AREN’T WE DOING BETTER?

The Institute of Quarrying Australia’s goals are: 1. To provide world class professional development for the extractive industries.

2. To establish an Australasian Academy of Quarrying.

3. To align service offerings with industry needs.

IQA CONTACTS: Chief Executive Officer Kylie Fahey PO Box 1779 Milton BC QLD 4064 Phone: 0477 444 328 ceo@quarry.com.au Company Secretary Rod Lester Phone: 0408 121 788 rgl@rlester.com.au Finance Officer Gemma Thursfield Phone: 0402 431 090 gemma@quarry.com.au Web Maintenance, Graphic Design, ePrograms, IT Support Ryan Spence Phone: 0422 351 831 ryan.spence@quarry.com.au General, membership and financial inquiries should be directed to admin@quarry.com.au or phone 02 9484 0577.

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NEWS

WORKER FATALLY BURIED IN FORMER QUARRY ‘BUSINESSES MUST ENSURE SAFE SYSTEMS ARE IN PLACE TO MANAGE THE RISKS OF WORKING NEAR MOBILE PLANT’ SAFEWORK NSW SPOKESPERSON

The accident occurred in the 150m deep pit at the BINGO Industries waste disposal operation in Eastern Creek. Image courtesy of the Nine Network.

SafeWork New South Wales has urged caution when working near mobile plant after a bulldozer recently buried two workers under tonnes of waste at a quarry-turned-landfill.

A 47-year old man died and another was taken to hospital with serious abdominal injuries after the workplace accident at the BINGO Industries-operated waste disposal facility in Eastern Creek on 27 May. The 55ha recycling and landfill plant opened in 2012 and is the largest in the southern hemisphere. The site is a former hard rock quarry that was excavated down to 150m and has a capacity of 12.5 million cubic metres.

When the accident occurred, the two men were reportedly sorting waste material before a bulldozer – which was shifting large amounts of waste – struck and buried them in heavy materials.

“The machine pushed them into the waste material, making them very hard to locate,” SafeWork NSW executive director Tony Williams told ABC News.

The BINGO Industries operation processes construction and demolition waste, including steel, concrete and timber, as well as whitegoods. This made the conditions hazardous for rescuers.

The injured man was rescued and taken to Westmead Hospital but the second was fatally crushed under tonnes of rubbish for a further 15 minutes before rescuers reached him.

Williams told the ABC the driver of the bulldozer had undergone drug and alcohol testing and SafeWork inspectors had been on site to interview witnesses.

A SafeWork NSW spokesperson told Quarry the incident was a reminder that workers should be cautious around moving machinery.

“SafeWork reminds businesses to ensure that safe systems are in place to manage the risks of working near mobile plant,” she said. “SafeWork NSW is investigating an incident at Eastern Creek that occurred on Monday, 27 May where a worker was killed and another seriously injured.

Investigations are ongoing. A report will be prepared for the Coroner.”

Dial-A-Dump (DADI) Industries originally operated the $300 million recycling and landfill site but it merged with BINGO Industries earlier this year. DADI acquired the land in 2006, and since 2012 has developed it into a “state of the art” construction, demolition and commercial waste recycling and recovery centre and landfill known as Genesis. •

INACTIVE SITE EXPECTED TO FETCH RECORD PRICE A former Hanson-owned and operated bluestone quarry in Melbourne’s southeast is up for sale and may attract record bids.

The former Harkaway Quarry, in Noack Road, Harkaway, near Berwick, spans 56ha. It was first quarried in 1916 and was decommissioned in January 2010. In 2006, the property was sold for $960,000.

Since ceasing operations, the quarry pit has been allowed to fill with water and has effectively become an 80,000m3 lake.

In recent years, despite being fenced off, some local residents have complained that the site has been used to dump cars and rubbish.

In 2017, City of Berwick former mayor Syd Pargeter led a push to redevelop the site and transform it into a water park and equestrian track.

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Hanson operations manager Murray Butterworth confirmed to Quarry the company owned the land and said “we are now working our way through expressions of interest”.

“It hasn’t been an active quarry for over a decade,” Butterworth said.

After one week on the market, the site had received 20 inquiries, including at least one from Sydney. Barry Plant Berwick sales agent Calum Dabb told news.com.au that there has been a lot of interest in the site and it is expected to fetch a record price for the suburb.

The former Harkaway Quarry pit has been transformed into a lake.

While the massive size of the picturesque allotment is expected to lure developers, a green wedge zone limits it to 8ha subdivisions. Although the lake would need to be remediated, there is

also a substantial amount of cleared land.

Farmers and even those looking for an ultra-private home site could also pursue the property. •

METSO ACQUIRES MCCLOSKEY IN LANDMARK DEAL Metso has signed a $CAD420 million ($AUD457 million) agreement to acquire McCloskey International in a deal designed to expand its product offering and client base.

Predicated on an increased global spend in road construction, Metso expects the mobile aggregate equipment market to grow to up to six per cent annually from 2019 to 2023.

“This acquisition is in line with Metso’s profitable growth strategy. It strengthens our aggregates business in key growth areas. The different cycles of aggregates balance our previously more mining-focused Minerals portfolio well,” Metso’s president and CEO Pekka Vauramo said.

“Customers in aggregates and construction have varying business needs. This acquisition supports our expansion plans to approach customers through multiple complementary channels and offerings to meet their diverse needs,” Markku Simula, Metso’s president of the aggregates equipment business area said.

“Going forward, Metso plans to continue developing the McCloskey brands and distribution channels independent of the Metso channel.

Synergies are apart from sourcing mainly revenue related, resulting from the wider offering available to both channels as well as additional crusher equipment, service and consumable sales,” Simula said.

In the 12-month period ending 30 September, 2018, McCloskey had pro forma sales of $CAD464 million ($AUD503 million) and a pro forma EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) margin of 10.3 per cent.

The company’s strong track record of profitable growth over the past several years is expected to continue in 2019. McCloskey International’s sales in the fiscal year ending 30 September, 2019 are expected to exceed $CAD500 million ($AUD542 million).

McCloskey employs about 900 people in Canada, the United States and Northern Ireland.

“We are proud of the growth

MULTINATIONAL SUPPLIER OPENS NEW SERVICE CENTRE Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions has opened a new service centre in Brisbane that will specialise in wear and spare parts, equipment refurbishments, and other services.

McCloskey International’s C44 mobile cone crusher in operation. Despite the Metso acquisition, the McCloskey brand will continue in its own right.

achieved in a competitive market.

I know that joining Metso is the right move for all our customers, employees, dealers and business partners,” Paschal McCloskey, the founder, president and CEO of McCloskey, said.

“The combination of our unique focus on products and people and Metso’s global resources will help create even better solutions for our customers.”

To ensure financing for the acquisition, Metso has agreed on a bilateral loan from Nordea Bank Abp. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions.

Closing is expected to take place during Q4 of 2019.

In Australia, three companies distribute McCloskey and Metso mobile plant and equipment.

The Australian dealers for McCloskey International are MSC Group (eastern states) and 888 Crushing & Screening Equipment (South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory).

Tutt Bryant Equipment is the national distributor for the Metso range of mobile plant.

Kirwan Barr, the CEO of MSC Group, told Quarry that the Metso/McCloskey acquisition should be a positive outcome for the Australian quarrying industry, which is already spoiled for choice of quality mobile plant and equipment. McCloskey product, with the full resources of Metso behind it, would simply raise the bar again, he added. Barr also anticipated it would be “business as usual” for MSC Group for the remainder of this year and beyond. •

Opened on 14 May, the new facility will service thyssenkrupp’s east coast customer base, as well as clients in Oceania that utilise major logistics channels through Brisbane.

“As we want to offer the best possible services to our customers, we are continuously expanding our service offerings in the regions,” Dr Donald Weir, CEO of the service business unit of thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions said.

“Through our investment in Brisbane, we will make sure that all our customers on the east coast of Australia profit from the knowledge and experience thyssenkrupp’s global service network offers.”

Thyssenkrupp has invested roughly $1 million in the new service centre. It includes a 350m2 office and 1000m2 of warehouse and workshop space with room for 30 employees.

The portfolio includes, among others, the warehousing and servicing of wear and spare parts, equipment refurbishments, engineering and field services and revamps.

David Pickerill, thyssenkrupp’s east coast services manager, said he expects the new centre to have a positive impact on the quarrying sector.

“The aggregate industry is a local one and the new service centre will provide a local base to grow and support our business within the aggregates sector, from the supply of new equipment through to refurbishments, spare parts holdings and field service,” Pickerill said. •

Quarry July 2019 9

NEWS

CUTTING EDGE TECH HELPS RECOVER HUGE DIAMOND One of the largest diamonds in recorded history has recently been recovered in a Botswana mine, courtesy of innovative sorting sensor technology.

The unbroken 1758-carat diamond, weighing in at 352 grams, was recovered at Karowe Mine by TOMRA XRT sensor technology, commissioned by Lucara Diamond Corp.

Since introducing the TOMRA XRT technology as the primary recovery tool to the mine in 2015, Lucara has recovered two diamonds greater than 1000 carats.

TOMRA sorting technology has detected four of the top 10 largest diamonds in the world to date.

“As the largest diamond ever recovered by a mechanical process, it reinforces the unparalleled value XRT offers kimberlite and diamond mining companies,” the diamond segment manager for TOMRA Sorting Mining Geoffrey Madderson said.

“Lucara’s innovative strategy in combination with TOMRA’s worldclass sensor technology has once again proved an enormous success.”

TOMRA’s new multi-channel laser sorting solution enables the operator to define and apply a greater number of sorting criteria, which enables separating with much greater precision. It can also be used for sorting quarrying materials, including quartz from similarly coloured rocks. •

TOMRA XRT sensor technology has helped recover a 1758-carat diamond.

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Quarry July 2019

LINCOM CONTINUES RUN AS TOP DEALER ‘THIS SHOWS WE KNOW OUR CUSTOMERS, KNOW THEIR NEEDS AND ACCOMMODATE THEM’ STEPHEN WATTERSON

For the fourth consecutive year, Australia’s Lincom Group has been recognised as a leading distributor of Powerscreen mobile crushing and screening equipment.

The family-owned plant and equipment distributor was crowned Powerscreen’s Global Leader in Spare Parts Support for 2018.

This represents its fourth successive title since 2015, with the most notable prize – Overall Dealer of the Year – awarded for 2017.

Powerscreen hosted the annual dealer awards in Dublin, Ireland recently. The awards recognise the strongest performers in its dealer network using a scorecard system to judge a range of business disciplines.

“Given the vast experience and professionalism of the Powerscreen dealer network there is often stiff competition for the various award categories,” Stephen McCartney, Powerscreen international sales director said. “This underlines the significance of actually taking home the award. So congratulations to all the team at Lincom on another successful year and best wishes for continued growth.”

Lincom Group, whose HQ is in Queensland, has been a Powerscreen dealer in Australia, the Pacific Islands and Papua New Guinea since 1998, and New Zealand since 2009.

In addition to its mobile crushing and screening solutions, it also possesses a machinery hire fleet.

However, it was the company’s well equipped national spare parts distribution centre and after sales support service that won over the Powerscreen competition judges this year.

“Lincom Group have shown excellent commitment to customer support,” Paul Kearney, the vice president of parts and solutions for the Terex Group of Companies said. “Their highly professional parts infrastructure means that Powerscreen customers across Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea are assured of getting expert advice and prompt parts

Lincom Group has now won four successive Powerscreen Awards since 2015. This year it was judged the 2018 Global Leader in Spare Parts Support.

solutions when they need it most.”

Lincom Group CEO Stephen Watterson said he was “elated” to accept the award. “This shows we know our customers, we know their needs and we accommodate them,” he said.

The award, Watterson added, was a credit to Lincom Group’s employees, particularly the 32 staff involved in its service and spare parts business.

“I drill into my team the importance of urgency and customer service,” Watterson said. “It might only sound like a roller or a pump, but that one part the customer requires is resulting in his crusher, his excavator [standing idle] – it’s people standing around. That one $300 part could be costing him $30,000 a day.”

In addition to the awards mentioned above, Lincom has previously received the Global Leader in Spare Parts and Service prize (2017), Regional Dealer of the Year in Australia and Asia (2015 and 2016), Outstanding Contribution (2011) and After Sales Performance Award (2007).

The award is further good news for Lincom after it recently announced its appointment as the new Australian distributor of McLanahan Corporation’s sand and aggregate processing range.

This includes plant and equipment tailored to a range of applications, including washing and classifying, tailings and water management, and dewatering. •

UNASSUMING WELSH SITE’S WARTIME ROLE Quarries have been repurposed for the most unusual of assignments, but few in history can match the importance of Manod Quarry in north Wales.

The former Puketutu Island quarry will be filled with 4.4 million tonnes of biosolids.

FROM BASALT QUARRY TO HUMAN DUNG HOLE A former quarry on a sacred Maori island in New Zealand is being rehabilitated in a world first biosolids project – using treated human faeces.

In the 1950s and 1960s, about 915 million cubic metres of scoria and basalt rock from the volcanic cones on Auckland’s Puketutu Island were used to construct Auckland Airport’s runway and the Mangere Wastewater Treatment Plant.

As part of the current project, four volcanic cones that were destroyed during the quarrying operation will be rebuilt. Watercare, a water and wastewater company affiliated with the Auckland Council, estimates that 4.4 million tonnes of biosolids, comprising treated human waste, will be used to fill the former pit.

“I don’t know of anyone who does what we do,” Rob Tinholt, Watercare’s resource recovery manager, told stuff. co.nz. “To have a monofill [sewerage/ sludge-only landfills] of this scale of biosolids … is unique.

“What’s commonly done throughout the world is applying biosolids to land as a fertiliser, and another way is in landfills, either as a waste put in or as daily cover material for the rubbish.”

The site has been divided into 18 cells; the treated biosolids form the foundations of what will eventually be four hills to replicate those previously quarried.

Each cell is 25m wide and mesh separates the biosolids and soil layers. Around 300 tonnes of biosolids are transported to the island every day in side-tipping trucks that dump the material directly into the cells.

The first biosolids were tipped into the former quarry in 2014. According

to Watercare, by 2024, construction will be complete and “operational filling” will be carried out.

The final “capping” phase will involve contouring, topsoiling and planting. It is hoped that by 2049 Puketutu Island will be transformed into a regional park for the people of Auckland to enjoy.

Watercare personnel insist that no odours are expected on completion of the project and tourists will not be able to smell the treated human waste beneath their feet.

The island is sacred to mana whenua (Maori territorial rights; power associated with possession and occupation of tribal land). Some iwi (tribe) groups initially opposed the project.

The island was the first permanent home of the Tainui waka in Aotearoa after it had been carried overland from the Waitemata to the Manukau Harbour.

Te Warena Taua, the chairman and spokesperson of the Te Motu a Hiaroa Charitable Trust, which holds the freehold title of the land, said the island is of immense cultural, spiritual, historical and ancestral significance to mana whenua.

“It is, in essence, the spiritual centre of Tainui within Tamaki Makaurau and is a revered and central locale for the spiritual wellbeing of Te Kawerau a Maki and Te Waiohua,” Te Warena Taua told stuff.co.nz.

Under an agreement reached out of court, the island’s governance trust receives $2 per tonne of biosolids from Watercare. According to Taua, the funding will be put towards key cultural initiatives on Puketutu. •

The slate quarry, in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, became the top secret hiding place for the British National Gallery’s most precious art collection during the Second World War, providing an indestructible tomb as a Nazi invasion seemed imminent.

According to a recent BBC News article, 2000 works by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Turner and Constable had been stored in various Welsh locations since the beginning of the war, but none had proven their worth as a long-term safe haven.

Shipment to Canada was mooted but in 1940 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill famously demanded of the nation’s art treasures: “Hide them in caves and cellars, but not one picture shall leave this island.”

Manod Mountain had been a working quarry for more than a century. The quarry was unassuming and remote, and hundreds of metres of slate fortified the subterranean space bored out from years of excavation.

To accommodate the paintings, 5000 tonnes of material was shifted and explosives were used to clear the entrance. Six air-tight climate-controlled brick huts were built inside the mountain and the paintings were loaded on to a purpose-built railway and transported to the doors of the huts.

The government retained its lease on Manod until the 1950s, and it was expected to perform the same role if a third world war eventuated. •

There is little sign today that Manod Quarry xx once housed some of Britain’s national treasures. Image courtesy of bbc.co.uk

Quarry July 2019 11

PRODUCT FOCUS

To submit new product and equipment releases, email: damian.christie@quarrymagazine.com

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RECYCLING

REPURPOSE IT:

CARVING ITS NICHE IN RECYCLABLES To paraphrase tuna brand John West, the quarrying industry has operated on the notion the raw materials it rejects is what makes it best. A recycling company is upending that maxim – creating high quality aggregate products from the “fish” the industry rejects. Damian Christie reports.

I

n an era when quarrying nationwide is becoming less urban-based, the presence of a former 60ha (150 acre) quarry within 30km of a major Australian capital city is rare – even in an infrastructure boom.

The Repurpose It site at Cooper Street, Epping, in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, is part of a once historic quarrying precinct that was as large as 526ha (1300 acres), encompassing the suburbs of Epping, Wollert and South Morang, and was excavated for its basalt reserves.

The exhausted quarries were converted to landfill cells and the land’s ownership reverted to the shire authority in the Whittlesea Council. In 2016, the council signed off on an ambitious plan – the Quarry Hills Precinct Structure – to convert 280ha of the precinct into parklands, commerce and housing, with 150ha deemed “net developable area”. The area could, in the long-term, accommodate as many as 2300 dwellings and a population of 6600.

In preparation for this transition, the Victorian Government has identified the Cooper Street precinct as a resource recovery hub. Repurpose It is considered an invaluable part of this hub. It operates in an old 60ha quarry that was never converted to landfill but is largely buffered by the old landfill cells, giving it 1.2km breathing space from the nearest residences.

The company has leased a good half of 14

Quarry July 2019

The Repurpose It site at Cooper Street, Epping, Victoria, is part of a once historic quarrying precinct.

the site for a 20-year period – to run clean fill operations to remediate the old pits, while developing end products for reuse in infrastructure projects from excavation spoil, construction and demolition (C&D) materials, composts and other organic materials. A significant part of its operations include the commissioning of what is considered Australia’s first dedicated C&D

waste washing plant for the production of manufactured sand and washed aggregates.

NEW PLAYER Repurpose It is a relatively new player in the Victorian recycled aggregates market, having been in operation for less than three years. In March this year, infrastructure and engineering services giant Downer purchased

The $8.5 million fixed C&D waste washing plant produces manufactured sand and aggregates from excavation spoil and some concrete materials.

Repurpose It’s stockpiles derive from organic soils, civil construction, infrastructure, excavation and demolition spoils, and municipal solid, inert and hydroexcavation waste.

a 50 per cent shareholding in the company.

Repurpose It CEO and director George Hatzimanolis started the business after becoming fascinated by ways to reuse construction materials and reduce the construction industry’s dependence on extractive resources.

“I spent 15 years in the road construction and maintenance industry, mostly with Downer in their road surfacing business,” Hatzimanolis told Quarry. “I grew a passion for everything recycling about eight years ago when I started playing with substitute materials to extractive resources, trying to replace aggregates in sands and bitumen with residuals from recycling or other waste products. I was also introduced to materials like recycled toner from printing cartridges, using that as a polymer, waste glass as substitute sand, rubber to modify bitumen, industrial waste oils, recycled asphalt pavements. I really grew my passion for sustainability from that.”

Repurpose It began operating in 2017, and provides services and expertise in multiple transfer stations, waste management consulting, construction materials and soil amendments, organics and green waste processing, waste transport and collection, and importantly, its waste to resource operations.

It works with six main types of materials: green and organic; civil construction and infrastructure waste; excavation and demolition waste; municipal solid waste; solid inert waste; and drilling and drainage waste.

“Our business is designed around excavation spoil, in particular construction

type of waste spoil,” Hatzimanolis said.

“Anything that is generated from road or rail reserves is the type of waste stream that we handle and process – green or organic waste, soil, excavation rock or other forms of excavation spoil.”

Based in Epping, the company also performs contract work for local councils, including the shires of Manningham, Brimbank and Banyule. Repurpose It also operates under contract for Citywide Waste Management in West Melbourne. In 2016, Citywide opened Australia’s first street sweeping and pit cleaning recycling plant, which processes up to 22,000 tonnes per annum of the street sweepings waste stream, including grit, plastic, paper, cardboard, timber, litter and glass. These materials have been reused in standard road maintenance projects.

Repurpose It also partners with numerous civil construction companies, including Downer, John Holland, Eastern Plant Hire and Transurban, on projects across Victoria such as the Western Distributor, the Metro Tunnel and the Victorian Government’s Level Crossing Removal Project. A lot of the excavation spoil from these rail and road projects is inevitably delivered to Repurpose It for processing.

MATERIALS QUARRIES REJECT Hatzimanolis says Repurpose It sits in the range of “materials that the other quarrying companies or crushing operations would reject. We’re about the materials that are too contaminated, with too high soil and clay content or other levels of inert or

contaminated waste. We see ourselves as a service provider for the materials the quarries don’t typically process and we have invested in the technology to recover the resource from that, to ensure we’re optimising what can be recovered and reducing the industry’s reliance on extractive resources.

“Quarries are under immense pressure.

Obviously, in a big infrastructure boom, the types of material we recover reduces some of that pressure. Our presence in the north of Melbourne, only 28km from the CBD, means we can offer our clients an efficient location to dispose of their spoil – and from that we pick up materials that we can recycle into sands, soil and aggregates.

“Our washing plant is designed to recover sand and aggregate particles from excavation spoil, so that is the predominant waste by volume that we process.”

The $8.5 million fixed washing plant, which has a footprint of 1000m2, is manufactured by CDE Global and comprises an Aggmax 250, a number of Infinity H2-60 horizontal sizing screens, a centrifuge for silt dewatering, and an AquaCycle thickening tank.

“It’s high pressure water attrition through the Aggmax, another set of rinsing screens washing the sand, and then water treatment,” Hatzimanolis said. “The washing plant itself can process, depending on the feed, anywhere between 150 and 250 tonnes per hour. It has an annual output of 500,000 tonnes.”

Hatzimanolis explained the decision to invest in a C&D waste washing plant came on the back of a lot of research at home and abroad. Repurpose It also had Quarry July 2019 15

RECYCLING

a prior relationship with CDE Enviro, the environmental division of the CDE Global business, through the establishment of the Citywide washing plant. This played a large part in the company’s decision to purchase the CDE washing plant for its Epping operations.

“We looked at seven or eight plants that CDE had built around the UK, and how that design had been refined and optimised, based on people’s learning and experiences,” he said. “We saw some nuances in a number of plants that some operators had imported into the design for their particular waste stream, and what we did was really take the best of what we saw for our set-up.

“We wanted to deal with a variety of waste, some heavily contaminated waste, some inert waste, where organics and other materials were going to be highly contaminated, as well as materials with really high levels of fines content. We also knew there was an opportunity in the hydroexcavation space around drilling muds, because sand and aggregate fractions can also be recovered from that material.

The AquaCycle thickening tank (right) can produce residual fines of 75 micron for structural fill applications.

“So when we came up with our design, it was really taking the best of the CDE plants that we saw and adopting some smarts into the layout of the plant on our site, such as the range of the type of excavation waste, including hydroexcavation waste that we needed to build into the capability, and in particular being able to process some of the contaminated waste.”

WASTE STREAMS At the time of writing, the washing plant had been operating for nearly four months, and Hatzimanolis said he was happy with how it was running.

“It’s a complex plant with a lot of moving parts and we’re dealing with a very variable type of waste stream – unlike a quarry that’s

working on a particular reserve, or a crushing business with a waste stream of two or three products.

“We’re processing a very broad range of waste, so we probably put a fair bit of demand on the plant’s capabilities. That’s constantly requiring refinement. However, we’ve resourced the business pretty heavily from the technical point of view because that’s what’s needed when you’re running a complex plant across a variety of waste streams.

“The washing plant screens to a very consistent quality across fractions right from 0-2mm, 2-5mm, 5mm, 10mm, 14mm, 20mm and 50mm plus, so we can get good screenfractionated material that can offer and meet the required particle size distribution of our

FIRST PURPOSE-BUILT WET PROCESSING PLANT CDE Global supplied the equipment for Repurpose It’s C&D materials washing plant.

It consists of an Aggmax 250, several Infinity H2-60 horizontal sizing screens, a centrifuge for silt dewatering, and an AquaCycle thickening tank.

“It’s a bespoke design,” CDE Global’s Australasian regional manager Dan Webber said. “We took George [Hatzmanolis] and his team to various CDE waste recycling plants, so they were very well informed and knew what they wanted and what they didn’t.

“In saying that, George put a lot of faith in our expert engineers and design team to develop a best in class plant. The key requirement was the design of a robust flowsheet that could make a myriad of products, as well as a highly efficient tailings management system.”

Webber agreed with the suggestion that the Repurpose It plant is indeed a “first” among the 40 CDE Global washing plants operating in Australia.

“This is our first dedicated C&D waste recycling plant in Australia,” he said.

“Globally this is now a really important part of our business. With over 65 installed C&D plants across the world, CDE now has a

16

Quarry July 2019

Repurpose It’s Aquacycle thickening tank.

dedicated ‘Reco’ business unit, so that we can further build on our success and develop new solutions in the construction, demolition and excavation recycling industry.”

Webber added that Repurpose It’s plant is also the “first purpose-built wet processing plant for the recycling of C&D waste in Australia. Other waste plants may dry screen materials or hand pick contaminants out but up to now wet processing was not used.

“The big difference between a wash plant for virgin material and C&D waste is that the feed material isn’t consistent,” he added.

“The feed is usually very dirty – it’s high in clay and oversize – which means we need to carefully select the most effective equipment to treat the feed material.

“We usually incorporate some of our high tech scrubbing equipment – such as the AggMax logwasher – which cleans aggregates and frees sands bound up in clays. The other big difference is that a C&D waste recycling plant almost always has a dry tailings system set up at the back end.

In this case, Repurpose It asked CDE to integrate our decanter centrifuge system.”

The feedback from Repurpose It about the initial performance of the plant – which began operating in March – has been positive.

“Repurpose It has been excellent to deal with during commissioning,” Webber said.

“They are really keen to learn how to operate and get the most out of the plant. They have thrown everything at it – some really challenging materials with large amounts of clay and oversize – and it has stood up brilliantly.”

Webber said CDE Global is likely to work again with Repurpose It and Downer Group.

“I’d like to think that after our success with Repurpose It, along with the great plant that our sister company CDEnviro delivered to Downer in Sydney to reclaim materials for road sweepings, we are starting to build a great relationship.”

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RECYCLING

specifications without further processing.”

The manufactured sand – generated by separating materials from particles 150mm minus in size – is being reused in concrete, asphalt, sand and aggregate replacement applications, and capping in landfill cells.

Even the plant’s residuals still have a use.

“The percentage of recoverables depends on the incoming feed. Obviously, if we are washing something that is high in clay or silt content then we will get more residuals out of the thickening tank. Depending on how that material is classified, it still has a construction application as a structural fill, not as a sand aggregate. So there are applications for structural fill, and we have some customers who have been procuring that product. We also have a need for it ourselves as part of our quarry remediation.

“Typically, it’s a fine fraction, about 75 micron. It’s spadeable material, but does have good construction applications, and we’re doing a lot of work and research on that, some with universities, about other applications where it can be blended and value added to be used as structural fill.”

Rail ballast spoil from the Victorian Level Crossing Project is also a challenging product to wash. “The ballast that comes out of the washing process is only as good as the ballast that goes in,” Hatzimanolis said. “It’s about cleaning material, so where we can test our ballast and ensure that technically it’s suitable for reuse, our highest priority is to go for the best value reuse possible – preferably as rail ballast back on the rail network.

“We’ve had a lot of support and interest from VicTrack, MTM, V-Line and Yarra Valley Rail around the reuse of ballast and they’re now supplying ballast back once it’s been demonstrated it can meet spec. Where the ballast fraction is variable in its quality, then it will go out as other types of form. It still may be used as a ballast but on haul roads or as a drainage medium, rather than back on the road network.”

Repurpose It also accepts and washes recycled glass at fractions of 10mm minus down to 14mm minus. The glass arrives from other materials recycling facilities that have collected it as kerbside waste and processed it to a residual glass fraction that is unsuitable for a recycled glass application.

The challenge of processing glass fines is in successfully removing surface contaminants, which may include organics, plastics and non-ferrous materials.

“It can be very odorous, there’s bacteria issues, sugar, organics, molasses on the 18

Quarry July 2019

The Aggmax 250 logwasher (left) and Infinity H2-60 sizing screen (right) are integral parts of the washing circuit.

glass fines,” Hatzimanolis said. “Our process can scrub clean, through attrition and high pressure water, those glass particles, which means when it’s reused as a bedding material or by a contractor, it’s a more userfriendly material. Beyond that, we’re also looking at what end products we can devise with a cleaner fraction of glass. What’s the best possible reuse? Can it go back to glass manufacturing or can we use it to make other building materials?”

LOW EMISSIONS FOOTPRINT In its publicity, Repurpose It has emphasised that the washing plant, for 100,000 tonnes of materials processed, has a low emissions footprint.

It generates 5000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year – compared to the broader industry average of 22,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum.

Hatzimanolis said the carbon emissions saving of 17,000 tonnes per annum is based on several factors.

“The emissions footprint depends on the total volume being washed, but we’ve had an independent life cycle assessment quantify our CO2 emissions profile,” he explained.

“On average, we can save about 168 kilograms of CO2 per tonne of material that’s diverted from landfill to our facility and the sands and aggregates reused.

“So the 168 kilos of CO2 per tonne with a capacity of 500,000 tonnes is about 84,000 tonnes of CO2 that can be diverted from the atmosphere each year through our facility. It’s quite a significant offset of CO2 in the market.

“We’ve looked at the total footprint and there’s a water usage component, as well as

the plant’s power component. Quarrying can be quite energy-intensive in terms of fuels, and obviously there’s an impact of transporting those materials from quarries.

“Sand is a lot further away from markets than we are here at Epping. So our emissions footprint really looks at the whole impact. We see ourselves as an urban sand source and we are the closest source into the Melbourne market, being only 28km from the city. That presents an opportunity to use fewer trucks on the road and produce less CO2.”

In addition to running an environmentally friendlier operation, Repurpose It has enthusiastically engaged in research and development programs with statutory bodies, non-profit groups and universities to improve its end products.

In 2018 the company received a grant from Sustainability Victoria towards the development of the washing plant and it has also applied to have its products certified under the Green Building Council of Australia’s Green Star process.

In addition to partnering with RMIT to develop a clean glass fraction that can be reused in glass manufacturing, Repurpose It is also working with Swinburne University of Technology on the capabilities of its recycled aggregates and sands in a concrete application. Repurpose It also benefits from a National Association of Testing Authorities-approved on-site laboratory and a large Downer-owned R&D facility in nearby Somerton. Hatzimanolis says the company is working with standards authorities – such as VicRoads, the Australian Road Research Board, the Cement Industry Federation and

the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia – to update the specifications for acceptance of recyclable materials.

“A number of agencies are moving in the right direction, in particular VicRoads. In the last couple of years we’ve definitely seen a shift in their mentality about promoting the use and procurement of recycled materials, and that’s definitely helping businesses like ours invest.

“There’s still a lot more work to be done with some of the water authorities, which have quite outdated specifications around bedding materials. There are specifications that refer to sourcing from virgin quarry sources, which in our view is outdated.

“We are getting an audience and we’re starting to get traction but, like most big government bodies, the change doesn’t always happen at the pace at which the technology is moving. So that’s a challenge for the industry, not just Repurpose It. We need others to lobby with us to move things forward.”

The CDE washing plant has a footprint of 1000m2.

THE FUTURE Hatzimanolis is optimistic about the future of Repurpose It and its place in the recycled aggregates market.

He says the company has “ambitious growth objectives across the rest of the market in Victoria and beyond”, and he believes the business’ growth in the longterm will depend on “investments that mirror what we’ve done to find a niche in the market”.

“The premise of our business is about investing in best practice technology to convert typically untreatable waste into a resource, and really those are the values that will drive us forward,” Hatzimanolis said.

He predicts the company will continue to

engage in a range of partnerships. He does not rule out working with other recycling groups where there is the “right business fit”, and with quarrying operations that are seeking to diversify into the recycled aggregates/waste to resources market.

“A lot of quarries have residual waste, scalps and other materials that they can’t process efficiently with conventional dry processing applications,” Hatzimanolis said.

“We have spoken with a few quarries about how our technology may be applied to them.

We see ourselves as complementary to the quarrying industry, because we believe our materials can relieve some of their pressures.

“So we’re definitely open to partnerships where they make sense.” •

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RECYCLING

CRUSHER BUCKET, ECO-MATERIAL HELP SLASH CONSTRUCTION COSTS

T

he latest in mobile crushing technology is being used as part of an efficient, innovative and environmentally friendly process to reduce costs for residential building, commercial structures and wider applications for infrastructure engineering.

An MB Crusher C50 crusher bucket, fitted to an eight-tonne Kubota hydraulic excavator has been deployed on a steep and challenging residential building site to crush demolition spoil for recycling using an Australian product called Soilstone, a tested and robust alternative building material.

The crusher bucket processed tiles, bricks, mortar and foundation concrete that was recycled in-situ on a steep double block in Sylvania, in Sydney’s south. The site presented challenges in terms of gradient and the need for stabilisation. The result was massive and super-stable foundations for the building of two new homes.

Soilstone technology uses mechanical and natural chemical processes to treat native spoil to produce the properties of rock that can be formed into a structure. The process has been tested, evaluated and approved by the New South Wales building regulator.

Instead of building foundations from purchased concrete, the natural site material is crushed together with additive chemicals that recycle the spoil into an extremely durable and progressively hardening rock-like mass.

A major benefit of the site drainage design is the ability to form multiple drainage lines while retaining structural mass and stability.

The material is moisture impervious and enables builders to form drainage and other structures in a way that would be difficult or more expensive than if using poured concrete.

The Soilstone process has been used successfully for the mitigation of soil erosion, improved bearing capacity or sub-grade reaction, improved resistance to water permeability, and improved resistance to ground movement and vibration forces. The environmentally sustainable recycled material is not prone to corrosion like steel is.

As an alternative to unwanted or excess soil, demolished concrete or brick materials, Soilstone can use these in-situ resources to 20

Quarry July 2019

Retaining walls produced from crushed and treated recycled demolition spoil on-site.

An eight-tonne Kubota excavator with an MB Crusher C50 crusher bucket on a residential site.

engineer a soil structure for particular use and function on-site.

Using the Soilstone process not only provided a suitable engineering solution on the Sylvania site, it also saved the builder more than $36,000, which would have been spent on material removal and disposal.

“Typically, you save around 50 per cent of the material that has to be removed off-site,” Soilstone’s developer and consulting and research engineer Edgar Agda said.

“This means all construction materials can be minimised. The reconstituted material is extremely stable yet can be drilled easily or have sections cut out to add or retrofit service lines.

“In addition, there is virtually no limit to the type of material that can be used for the process. Sand, gravel, clay rock, recycled bricks, tiles, tyre waste and processed plastic can be used.”

The Soilstone process is suitable for applications such as slope embankment stabilisation, buttressing to halt and remediate coastal erosion, in complex construction, and flood mitigation, and the management, prevention and repairing of flood damage to buildings. It can also be used as alternative material in waffle pod, foundation works retrofitting and stabilisation.

Agda said Soilstone was an economical

alternative to roadbase material and mine site erosion control, landfill contamination control and other in-situ ground improvement works.

Soilstone’s engineered in-situ soil and processed waste aggregates mix provide an alternative in ground improvement that minimises, if not eliminates, the use of material grading and compaction requirements, yet attain properties of varied shear, and the compressive and bonded strength of stone.

MB Crusher’s screening buckets allow operators and contractors to reprocess materials in-situ, helping reduce the load on the environment by making useful byproducts of otherwise low value raw feed, which may add significantly to their profitability.

In urban areas, reducing the carting and dumping costs for waste materials can often mean a fast return on investment, and in rural areas it can mean producing very useful, valuable materials in places where buying materials is often prohibitively expensive.

MB Crusher products are distributed in Australia by Semco Equipment Sales.

Soilstone is based in North Rocks, New South Wales. • Source: Semco Equipment Sales/MB Crusher

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RECYCLING

‘URBAN MINING’:

A LANDFILL PROJECT’S SITE SOLUTION An earthmoving company is using 3D machine control, elevation cut/fill maps and twoway data transfer to monitor and document its landfill and recycling operation.

T

he Eberhard Group is an earthmoving firm delivering technology applications to the Swiss construction industry.

Founded in 1954 and with 11 locations across Switzerland and southern Germany, Eberhard offers expertise in infrastructure development, environmental remediation, recycling and bioremediation. It also owns a gravel and stone operation and several landfills. Its subsidiary Deponie Häuli Lufingen Zürich (DHZ) planned, built and operates the “Häuli” landfill in Lufingen, a village near Zurich.

In 2010 DHZ started the construction of the “Häuli” landfill project. The 30ha site is designed for a duration of 40 years. It will accept different qualities of materials and waste, brought in from previous industries or construction sites. For example, a chemical factory operating in the early years of the last century disposed of most of its discarded materials at the factory site. Over time, the waste has permeated into the ground and is contaminating the ground water. According to today’s laws, those materials have to be excavated and treated. The Eberhard Group uses advanced technology for clean-up and separating and treating such materials.

URBAN MINING “Urban mining” is the way to go for demolition and environmental remediation. To preserve natural resources, the goal is to recycle as much as possible. For example 75 per cent of the construction and demolition (C&D) waste goes back into the market. The Supersort separation plant in Lufingen can effectively sort out ferrous and non-ferrous metals from bottom ash and other mineral waste. Any material that is beyond recycling, washing or sorting will go into a landfill.

Following the “urban mining” concept is one thing, properly maintaining and managing a 22

Quarry July 2019

DHZ’s 30ha “Häuli” landfill site, near Zurich, Switzerland, is designed for a duration of 40 years.

landfill is another challenge.

“We were looking for a consistent process of monitoring, analysing and documenting how the Häuli landfill and the Supersort operations are running,” said DHZ CEO Stefan Eberhard.

“For a private owner of a project of this scope, it is imperative that we can minimise risks and liabilities by implementing proactive controls and show that we have documented processes for managing stocked materials.

“With an established framework in place we can facilitate quicker approvals, demonstrate validated procedures for locating specific material and monitor a safe and longterm operation.”

To meet its goals for staying ahead of regulators and competitors, the Eberhard Group approached SITECH Schweiz AG, the regional Trimble distributor for construction technology. Together they adopted a bold operation plan fortified by Trimble Connected Site Solutions. During construction of the landfill, DHZ used Trimble Construction Manager. It provides an intuitive interface that connects assets in the field to decision-makers in the office.

Eberhard felt that Trimble Construction

Manager made it easier to perform effective fleet management with the ability to manage construction operations and act quickly.

The software from Trimble helped to drive equipment productivity with optimised dispatching, productivity management, monitoring of load cycles and cycle times, showing of cut and fill volumes and average load capacities―– all in real time.

For the landfill operation a track loader and a soil compactor were equipped with a Trimble GCS900 Single GNSS roof mounting system.

It allows the driver to record operation details, such as the location of the different batches of material distributed across the landfill zones, and their compaction information. The position of the machine, as well as the number of passes and the pass height, is permanently recorded in the background.

“By assigning batch numbers to the site entry, trucks can unload the material in a defined area or easily navigate to a special location or retrieve the correct place of a certain batch,” Eberhard said.

The DHZ team is using a 3D machine control and compaction system to continually compact the waste. This can be tricky

because different materials require a minimum number of “passes” to reach the required compaction level. On a screen in the cab, the operator can see colour changes from green to red after each pass, until the target compaction level is achieved.

The machine control system permanently communicates recorded activities over wi-fi and internet to Trimble’s Connected Community and VisionLink packages. The current and past situations can be visualised.

The recorded data from the track loader and the soil compactor are merged. Production data can be mapped and analysed in 3D. VisionLink allows the use of filters to interpret and measure results. Useful individual views and reports, such as in-built volumes, layer thickness and achieved compaction can be created to examine details at a special location at a given point or period of time.

CUT AND FILL DATA Using VisionLink, the DHZ crew can also see the elevation status of the new ramp under

construction. With elevation and cut and fill maps users can create a near real-time 3D surface model or profile to view the progress and to show the status towards completion.

With cut and fill information they can also calculate how much material has been accumulated in a specified timeframe. On average, the team has determined they are moving about 7000m3 of waste per month.

This is very important to be able to strategise and plan for utilising remaining volumes. With the ability to precisely analyse the operation, Eberhard can also accurately determine when he will need to expand the operation and start construction of a new landfill.

Eberhard said Trimble’s material quantities tools and 3D visualisation capabilities from its Business Center-HCE are invaluable for monitoring and managing landfill operations.

Although it is challenging to quantify the run of investment achieved, Eberhard has estimated Trimble helped to produce between five and 10 per cent volume savings, which translates into five to 10 per cent operational cost savings. In

short, by using less landfill area, the team can process and treat more material in the same amount of space.

Even beyond these savings, Eberhard believes Trimble enables his team to set a standard for private landfill operation and documentation processes. He plans to use Trimble Connected Community solutions again for future landfill operations.

“For the operation it is a very good system,” Eberhard said. “We can honestly state that we are setting a standard and don’t get behind with monitoring the progress. And if somebody comes back, let’s say in five years from now and wants to remove a particular material because of contamination, we don’t have to dig up the whole landfill because we know exactly where and how deep that material is buried.”

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RECYCLING

MOBILE SCREEN CATERS TO THE ‘GREEN THUMB’ MARKET

Proving again that quarrying and other primary industries are essential to our social fabric, a quarry-spec mobile screen is making a significant contribution to Australia’s gardening and homeware market. Damian Christie reports.

S

earles Garden Products is a familyowned Australian company, based in Kilcoy, Queensland, 98km northwest of Brisbane. Its 4700 products include potting mixes, fertilisers, mulch, seeds, weeding, pest and disease control goods, garden accessories and corflute signage.

These products are distributed across Australia through numerous stockists, including independent art and garden centres, nurseries, local timber, hardware and interior design stores, agricultural supply traders, concrete and landscape businesses (including notably Mawsons Concrete & Landscaping in Victoria), and large hardware chains such as Bunnings and Mitre 10. There is a very strong chance that you will have bought a Searles product on your visit to your local garden centre or hardware store.

The company was founded by a husband and wife team – Con and Jenny Searle – in 1977 at Caloundra, on the Sunshine Coast, and originally sold a mere five products that were supplied in clear plastic bags with wire tied tops to household gardeners. The business at the time was merely equipped with a ute, a shovel, a wheel barrow and a cement mixer.

It wasn’t until 1979 that the Searles’ business really took off, as they started supplying products to garden centres and

24

Quarry July 2019

The 2100X screens 40mm of mulch on its top deck and between 12mm and 16mm on the bottom deck.

nurseries along the Sunshine Coast. By the mid-1980s, the couple’s sales had expanded to Brisbane, central Queensland, the Gold Coast and northern New South Wales. In 1985, they formed the family company JC & AT Searle Pty Ltd. In the late 1980s, Searles Garden

Products became the distributor of a wide range of home gardening products and its sales expanded to encompass the rest of Queensland, the NSW north coast (from Tweed Heads to Newcastle), western NSW, and Darwin. The expansion meant the company had to move from its original

base in Caloundra, and eventually in the 1990s, the Searles purchased the current Kilcoy site, which was customised and constructed to the company’s specifications and features advanced production, research and distribution facilities. It is located along the D’Aguilar Highway and employs 75 staff, with expertise in administration, sales, research and development, production, warehousing and distribution.

Ashley Searle, one of the two sons of Con and Jenny Searle, is the company’s technical manager and leads a modern on-site laboratory with a highly skilled team of university qualified research staff.

The laboratory continuously monitors, trials and quality tests its products, with a particular emphasis on the development of high quality goods in the composting and blending process.

To quote the Searles Garden Products website: “With our composting and blending expertise, we are able to produce products, which contain specific amounts

of composts, humus, humic colloids and microbial life that can enhance the product beyond comparison … These nutrients are available for immediate use by the plant and they can also be stored for later use as the plant requires more ... The end result is improved plant growth, improved plant health and a robust, flourishing garden!”

The compost products are “superbly enhanced” by specialised additives, including Penetraide re-wetting granules, controlled release fertilisers, soluble plant foods, water crystals, coir peat and peat moss, and zeolite, trace elements and other minerals.

MOBILE SCREEN ACQUISTION As a result of this commitment to producing the highest quality garden products, Searles has utilised heavy-duty quarry-spec gear. It has for several years screened its compost materials using screening plant and equipment supplied by the Lincom Group.

Its purchases in the past have included a

Pronar trommel and a Powerscreen Chieftain 2100X mobile screen three years ago. Searles has never needed to purchase mobile crushers to process already fine materials.

Now, Searles has swapped its Chieftain 2100X on a “like for like” basis, receiving the latest generation model in exchange for its original machine. The Chieftain 2100X has been screening 40mm of mulch on its top deck and 12mm to 16mm on the bottom deck. Due to contaminants in the raw materials, the screen generates three stockpiles, two of which are waste products (40mm + 20mm), while the third is the end 12/16mm product which goes into the potting/mulching mix bags.

“Searles bought its screen for its 12/16mm product, which is the end product of processing 60mm to 70mm materials,” Davy McDermott, Lincom’s area sales manager for northern NSW and southeast Queensland, said. “The 2100X is good because it’s a 20’ x 5’ (6.1m x 1.5m) unit that

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RECYCLING

SPECS – POWERSCREEN CHIEFTAIN 2100X FEATURES

TWIN-DECK

TRIPLE-DECK

Output (tph)

Up to 600*

Up to 600*

Screen unit

6m x 1.5m

6m x 1.5m

Feeder hopper capacity

8m3

8m3

Weight

35 tonnes

37 tonnes

Transport width

3m

3m

Transport length

19m

19m

Transport height

3.5m

3.5m

Working width

18m

18m

Working length

20m

20m

Working height

6m

6m

Main conveyor (width)

1050mm

1050mm

Tail conveyor (width)

1200mm

1200mm

Side conveyor (width)

800mm

800mm

Feeder conveyor (width)

1200mm

1200mm

Auxiliary conveyor (width)

650mm

Tail conveyor (discharge height)

4.75m

4.75m

Side conveyor (discharge height)

5m

5m

Auxiliary conveyor (discharge height)

4.4m

Tracks (width)

500mm

500mm

Diesel engine (Tier 3)

Cat C4.4 (83kW)

Cat C4.4 (97kW)

Diesel engine (Tier 4 Final)

Cat C4.4 (82-98kW)

Cat C4.4 (129.5kW)

*Output potential depends on application.

provides good product splits – to get the full efficiency of the big deck. Searles doesn’t have to screen the material twice, it’s doing it all in one hit.

“Originally the company expressed interest in the Chieftain 1700 which is only a 16’ x 5’ (5m x 1.5m) unit. They stepped up to the 2100X, which gives them a clean finished, screened product. The bigger the screen, the better the quality of the stockpile.”

26

Quarry July 2019

The Chieftain 2100X twin-deck incline screen at Searles was bought primarily for the recycling of top soil and the processing of composted materials. However, it is also suitable for a range of other applications, including aggregates, sand and gravel, blast rock, river rock and overburden, and can also process C&D materials and other by-products including foundry materials and processed minerals. The 2100X is designed

for medium to large scale operators that require large volumes of high specification products.

The 2100X features an 8m3 feeder hopper with 300mm extensions, a standard adjustable angle reject grid, a heavyduty, single-shaft incline screenbox with adjustable stroke, angle and speed, a 5.5m top deck and a 1.5m bottom deck, and a drop-down fines conveyor to assist with bottom deck mesh access. It is equipped with main, tail and side conveyors that provide stockpile discharge heights up to 5m. The hydraulically folding conveyors provide for easy transport; the 2100X has heavy-duty, low ground pressure tracks that in turn can be guided by a pendant remote control system.

Depending on media sizes and material types, along with the installation of some options, the Chieftain 2100X can at full capacity provide a maximum throughput of 600 tonnes per hour (tph) for a quarrying producer.

“For that amount of tonnage, you’d require a 100-200mm mesh top deck and a 50-70mm bottom deck,” McDermott said.

“Realistically, a producer would have a turnover of 1500 to 2000 tonnes per day, and be producing 5mm, 7mm, 10mm, 14mm, 16mm and 20mm products for asphalts and concretes. They’d also have to be using cone and jaw crushers in their mobile circuit, and have different types of meshes for six different products. On average, the Chieftain 2100X is more likely to produce in the range of 200 to 250 tph for the average quarry producer.”

OPTIONAL FEATURES One of the options available to buyers on the 2100X is a double-deck, remote-controlled tipping grid option, with a 152mm (6”) grid aperture between each bar, a discharge chute and a crusher feed chute. McDermott said the advantage of the tipping grid is that it can be tipped to 90 degrees and runs like a screenbox. “Instead of relying on the feeder all the time, the grid runs off the screen. You can also install a mesh on the bottom deck and control what feed goes to the screenbox. You would use the grid for a gravelly type of rock, like a river gravel of 300mm – 60-300mm. River gravel is very round, so the sand is very good for decorative stone products.”

McDermott said the advantage of mobile screens like the 2100X is that the angle of the screenbox can be adjusted from 20 to

30 degrees, making it ideal for a range of applications, from compost to sand and gravel. It is also possible to use a variety of different screen meshes, including 100mm mesh, polyurethane, mats, aggi-vibes, 100mm coated mesh, and a guitar wire with adjustable gaps up to 3mm. Producers also have the option of purchasing a self-cleaning flexi-mesh for the bottom deck which McDermott said is “very good for sticky materials, to avoid the mesh blinding over. You get really good screening efficiency and you’re not having to clean the mesh all the time”.

The Chieftain 2100X is powered by an 83kW Tier 3 Caterpillar C4.4 diesel engine at 2200 revolutions per minute for the two-deck unit. Australia currently uses Tier 3 engines but Powerscreen is gradually installing Tier 4 Final engines on all of its mobile crushers and screens. McDermott added that there is also a dual power diesel/electric option for the Chieftain 2100X, featuring two electric motors.

“Dual power has been out for a while, and is a significant part of Powerscreen’s – and Lincom’s – screening options,” he said.

There is also the option of a triple-deck version with adjustable screen speed and amplitude and hydraulic screen angle adjustment. The three-deck 2100X features a hydraulically folding recirculating conveyor, with a 4.4m discharge height, which eliminates the need for the twobearing screen.

For Searles, the two-deck screen version, though, has “worked a treat”, according to McDermott. “Searles found the new 2100X much quieter than the previous one,” he said of his client’s feedback. “There’s been improvements with the engine canopy, which is more sound-based and the muffler on the exhaust has also been redesigned. It is also processing a softer material, of course.”

McDermott said the compost “screening process” has sufficiently removed material and wood chips from the 16mm end product, and the resulting compost is “light, fluffy, and

easy to handle”, making it immediately ready for market all over Australia.

In this publication, we never stop emphasising just how integral the aggregates and other primary industries are to the everyday products that underpin our social infrastructure. Next time you pick up a premium compost or platinum potting mix, or an organic or soluble fertiliser for your garden, remember that there’s a very high probability it is a Searles gardening product and it’s been processed by a quarry-spec Chieftain 2100X screen.

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RECYCLING

COMPACT CRUSHERS PLAY PIVOTAL ROLES IN RECYCLING JOBS Two compact crushers have proven their worth in recycling operations, including processing materials on-site at one of Terex Corporation’s planned new facilities.

I

n March 2019, Terex Corporation announced a new manufacturing facility in Derry, Northern Ireland, at an investment of £12 million ($AUD218,807,400). The new 9755m2 (105,000ft2) manufacturing facility will focus on the design, manufacture and development of product lines for Terex Ecotec (waste management and recycling) and Terex Conveying Systems products.

The site purchased for the new facility – Terex Campsie, which will be operational later this year – consisted of an existing building and ground area that needed redevelopment to meet Terex’s operational and manufacturing requirements. This included the processing of construction and demolition (C&D) waste that resulted from clearance of old blockwork and building rubble from internal walls, and concrete and plinths from the yard.

This C&D material provided the Terex EvoQuip Cobra 290 impact crusher with the perfect opportunity to demonstrate its capabilities by crushing the material to be reused instead of sending it to landfill – saving money and reducing the environmental impact.

The material was initially broken up by an excavator and rock hammer and then processed through the Cobra 290 to create a usable product, which was then applied as a base layer on the site for new concrete roads that are strong enough to handle the expected number of trucks. “The Cobra eliminated the need to purchase new material for the road base layer,” said Kieran Devlin, the operations manager of Terex Campsie. “It also meant we did not have to pay to send material to landfill, resulting in great financial savings for us and reduced environmental impact.”

28

Quarry July 2019

The EvoQuip Cobra 290 at work at the Terex Campsie demolition site.

The Terex Campsie site clearance generated more than 650m3 of inert waste material that would have ended up in landfill if the Cobra 290 had not processed it. The environmental impact as a result of processing on-site was greatly reduced, as it also eliminated the need for virgin raw materials and significantly reduced the number of truck movements.

Comparing the costs of disposal, truck hire, landfill levies and imported stones for blinding against the costs of hiring the Cobra 290, stockpiling rubble, loading the crusher, depositing on-site and various

allowances for separating out and salvaging rebar – for residual non-crushed concrete for disposal, and for reuse of surplus – there were also financial savings of about £9000 ($AUD16,410).

PERFECT SOLUTION FOR ROADS As work began on the Terex Campsie site, a Terex EvoQuip Cobra 230 impact crusher began operating for a recycling and plant hire firm in Wadebridge, Cornwall, in the southwest of England.

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C&D materials are broken up by an excavator and rock hammer and then processed through the Cobra 290 to create a base layer on the site for new concrete roads.

crushing and screening and provides a cost-effective materials recycling service across Wadebridge, Padstow, Bodmin, Rock, St Austell and surrounding areas.

Proprietor Mark Coad established himself as an agricultural contractor in 1997 at his site in Wadebridge. Over the years the company has expanded into plant hire and recycling. In 2010 he started recycling C&D waste from plant hire jobs using Powerscreen screening and crushing equipment. Due to an increase in demand in 2012, the company expanded its recycling operations to Kestle Quarry, near Bodmin. Today the site operates as an inert recycled aggregates processing centre and produces a wide range of clean, saleable stone and soil products from the recycled C&D materials.

Coad had previously operated a competitor crusher, but he didn’t like the design feature that required an operator to stand on the platform at the entrance to the impact chamber, while material was fed into the machine. He required a new machine that would improve health and safety and working conditions on-site. The new machine also had to be compact enough for Coad and his team to take it to sites located down narrow Cornish roads. In the past, the firm had trouble taking its old crusher to jobs and was missing out on business at smaller jobs.

The EvoQuip Cobra 230 has been designed to enhance the profitability of small- to medium-sized operators such as ME Coad.

It offers productivity, versatility and fuel efficiency, as well as quick set-up times, intuitive operation and ease of transport. The Cobra 230’s compact length and height (9.3m and 3m respectively) made it the ideal machine for Coad and his operation.

“I chose the Cobra 230 because of its compact size and it has already proved its worth,” Coad said. “I have completed two jobs already, where I have had to go down a narrow farm track and do a 90-degree turn. With my previous crusher, I would have never got it onto site. It’s also great how I can fit it onto a low loader trailer combined with an eight-tonne swing shovel, meaning I can take all the equipment needed for the job on one load.”

Coad added that over the years he’d had a variety of crushers but none had been compact enough or the ones that were didn’t have the same value for money as the Cobra 230.

In Australia, the distributors of Terex EvoQuip mobile plant and equipment are Tricon Equipment (New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria) and OPS Screening & Crushing Equipment (Western Australia and the Northern Territory). • Source: Terex EvoQuip

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RECYCLING

SUN SHINES ON

PRODUCER’S LATEST ASSETS Alex Fraser Group, one of Australia’s largest recycled aggregates producers, has officially flicked the switch on two new $20 million glass recycling and sustainable asphalt plants. Damian Christie was at the opening of the new plant at the company’s integrated recycling site in Melbourne’s west.

T

o quote the old adage, beauty is in the eye of the beholder – and it quickly became a running gag among spokespeople at Alex Fraser’s Laverton North site, on 31 May. The launch of two new, $20 million state of the art recycling plants occurred in inclement weather. It was attended by Members of Parliament, representatives of VicRoads, the Level Crossing Removal Program, Major Projects Victoria, Metro Trains, Sustainability Victoria and the Australian Road Research Board, several local councillors, personnel from research partners and universities, and Alex Fraser Group’s own customers in the civil construction industry.

It was only as official proceedings began that the sun broke through for the opening address by Alex Fraser’s managing director Peter Murphy, prompting him to hail what a “beautiful day” it was!

When Hanson Australia CEO Phil Schacht, Murphy’s boss, came to the podium, he quipped that having flown in from Sydney that morning, he wasn’t so sure: “It was glorious up there compared to Melbourne!”

Nevertheless, he was in concurrence with Murphy’s opening remarks, and said the two plants were certainly “beautiful”.

When it was the turn of The Honourable Lily D’Ambrosio MP, the Victorian Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change to speak, she joined in the light banter between the Alex Fraser and Hanson executives. “It’s a very exciting day and I do think these plants are beautiful too,” she said.

The objects of the trio’s affection were a high 30

Quarry July 2019

At more than 40m high, the recycled technology asphalt plant predominantly processes recycled glass, plastics and asphalt.

recycled technology asphalt plant, designed and installed in conjunction with global asphalt equipment manufacturer Ammann Group, and an innovative glass recycling plant, possibly the first of its kind in the world to be able to separate contaminants from glass waste during processing.

Following years of research and development, the now fully operational plants will supply recycled roadbase, aggregates, sand and asphalt to Victorian road and rail projects. Use of these materials should also contribute to significant commercial and environmental savings across the Victorian construction materials industry – including reductions in landfills, heavy vehicle movements, and the carbon footprint of new infrastructure projects.

These plants complement a 10-year old recycling facility in the heart of the 34ha Laverton North site that has been processing up to one million tonnes per annum (tpa) of recycled concrete, asphalt and glass for use in major road projects, suburban road upgrades, level crossing removals and civil construction applications throughout Melbourne. The construction and demolition (C&D) plant continues to set records – in May 2019, it despatched more recycled products than in any other single month in its first decade of operation. It is estimated that about 50 per cent of Victoria’s recycled C&D materials originate from Alex Fraser Group’s three Victorian sites in Laverton, Clarinda and Epping.

The commissioning of the new asphalt and

glass recycling plants is expected to raise the amount of recycled tonnes per year at Laverton alone by 500,000 tpa and 200,000 tpa respectively.

Indeed, across its seven facilities in Victoria and Queensland, the company’s combined output exceeds three million tpa. Alex Fraser has about 400 employees across the country, with about 118 of these at Laverton. And still these impressive statistics form merely the latest chapter in a growing company that this year celebrates 140 years of operation.

Over the duration it has processed more than 50 million tonnes of recyclables in the civil construction industry.

FOUR MILLION BOTTLES A DAY In 2018, the Alex Fraser story took on an extra dimension when the company was welcomed into the Hanson Australia “fold”, as part of a $210 million acquisition by Hanson’s parent company and multinational construction materials giant HeidelbergCement. At the time of purchase, both businesses were described

Alex Fraser’s 10-year old C&D recycling plant is still setting production records.

as having “great synergies”.

“Alex Fraser was the perfect fit [for Hanson] both operationally and culturally,” Schacht said at the launch. “We were impressed by Alex Fraser’s network of sites; it is clear that we need these large-scale facilities close to metropolitan areas to achieve the best recycling outcomes.

“Today, we get a two-for-one offer with the official opening of this beautiful – and I do mean beautiful – asphalt plant behind me, and the opening of the new glass recycling plant.”

Murphy emphasised the potential contributions of the two new plants to the Victorian construction materials industry.

“These plants will create the first integrated

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hub for sustainable construction materials,” he said. “We are taking huge volumes that used to go to landfill and supplying high quality aggregates and asphalt back into small local government projects and major infrastructure projects. The materials that come out of this hub can reduce the carbon footprint of a project by up to 65 per cent.”

The glass recycling plant is the culmination of more than a decade’s work, with the company running a smaller, pilot glass plant throughout its construction. The new plant can produce up to 800 tonnes of high specification sand per day – equivalent to four million bottles – by “dry screening” the problematic glass waste streams that are frequently co-

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RECYCLING

Alex Fraser’s 34ha Laverton North site processes up to one million tpa of recycled concrete, asphalt and glass for use in road projects, level crossing upgrades and infrastructure projects throughout Melbourne.

Victorian Energy and Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio officially unveils the plaque for the glass recycling plant, with Alex Fraser’s Peter Murphy (far left) and Hanson’s Phil Schacht (far right) looking on.

mingled with other materials, such as paper, plastics, metals and organics.

“Our new glass recycling plant separates glass from impurities, and processes it into recycled sand, which complies with VicRoads specifications,” Murphy said. “The plant will process around a billion bottles a year, which exceeds what we all put in our wheelie bins. It helps divert material from landfill, and it helps to chew into the stockpiles and sheds full of glass around Melbourne.”

At the launch, Alex Fraser’s “Green Roads” recycled sand was on show in wheelbarrows and in small glass phials. “The end product, the recycled glass sand, provides better commercial and environmental outcomes,” Murphy said. “It directly replaces quarried sand and reduces the need for trucking virgin sand long distances into Melbourne, substantially reducing heavy vehicle movements on congested roads. It’s already used in road base, pipe bedding and its most 32

Quarry July 2019

valuable use is as the key ingredient for the asphalt plant right behind us.”

Murphy was referring to Alex Fraser’s range of sustainable asphalt mixes, including Glassphalt and PolyPave, VicRoadsregistered pavement materials that utilise glass as key components in the manufacture of energy-efficient, warm mix asphalt.

Murphy told Quarry that the 875m2 glass recycling plant is a bespoke design. “We designed the plant ourselves. We haven’t found any equipment that you could buy off the shelf. We looked overseas at what worked and didn’t work. We found components we thought would work, and then we used our own recycling experience to take a bit of an educated risk and go, ‘Okay, we’ve seen that work here, we’ve seen that work there, let’s assemble these components together, in a way that no one has seen before’.”

While Alex Fraser is keen not to disclose too much about the intellectual property features

of the plant, Murphy did say that it consists of crushers, two feed bins, 16 conveyors, two large screens, several magnetic separators, air knives and other sorting technology.

The magnets and knives remove kerbside contaminants from the glass such as metals and plastics, including bottle tops, pen nibs and clothes pegs. The glass goes through between six and eight stages before it is crushed the first time.

Murphy added that Alex Fraser is working on further enhancements and that the plant was always designed to be maintenance-friendly.

“We wanted easy maintenance access with plenty of space for our fitters so they didn’t have to climb deep into the plant. It’s more spread out than other plants. The driving factor was making a plant that’s easy to run and maintain.”

The glass plant runs on electricity. Murphy said it was designed to be “incredibly energyefficient” and as a result it offers a lower carbon footprint because it has replaced loaders and excavators with conveyors, thereby reducing diesel consumption.

To the knowledge of Alex Fraser personnel, not only is the glass recycling plant the first licenced glass plant in Victoria, it is possibly the first of its kind globally. Murphy said the company was not aware of anyone else in the world that had developed a plant capable of separating contaminants from glass during the manufacturing process.

Certainly, international observers in the past have been “gobsmacked” by Alex Fraser’s work in recycled glass sand manufacturing because it is a process that others have really struggled with. Others have, Murphy said, either developed a “low grade product in high quantities” or a “high grade product in low quantities”.

In Alex Fraser’s publicity, it was suggested that the glass recycling plant could, with its capacity to produce up to 200,000 tpa of recycled glass sand, “effectively [put] an end to glass waste stockpiles and landfill in Victoria”. Murphy qualified this statement by saying that it would depend on the extent of the glass waste stream but there was certainly the potential to “recycle more than the waste that we generate. There’s about 150,000 tonnes of waste glass generated each year, so we can recycle all of that and go some way to reducing the size of other stockpiles too”.

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RECYCLING

sustainable asphalt per year. At more than 40m high, the facility predominantly uses recycled glass, plastics and, of course, asphalt to produce new asphalt.

“Recycled asphalt is a very valuable product,” Murphy said. “It has a very consistent stone through it, so it can be used again instead of quarrying stone. It also has high bitumen content, which is incredibly valuable. You can reduce the amount of oil-based products needed to make new asphalt by reusing that. We process it in the [C&D] recycling plant and then we use it in the asphalt facility.”

Like its glass counterpart, Murphy said the high recycled technology asphalt plant was the result of an intensive global assessment of asphalt production technology. “We pride ourselves on quality at Alex Fraser. This plant produces high quality materials using recycled content as its main input and only supplementing with virgin materials where necessary,” he said. “A lot of asphalt made around Melbourne uses raw materials trucked from up to 100 kilometres away. Our raw materials come from 100 metres away.

“This energy-efficient plant is capable of producing high quality asphalt mixes, made almost entirely of recycled materials. Our greenest asphalt mixes, like Glassphalt, which includes recycled glass, and PolyPave, which includes recycled plastics, are being produced here to supply a multitude of projects.”

Murphy said the asphalt plant was already supplying major road projects, including Melbourne’s Western Roads Upgrade, and municipal projects in the shires of Wyndham, Yarra, and Brimbank with green asphalt mixes.

The sustainable asphalt plant is powered by electricity and natural gas, and has been designed with the means to control the ambient temperature and energy consumption during the production process.

COLLABORATIVE PROCESS Apart from touring the dual plant set-up, D’Ambrosio sat in the passenger seat of the truck that took the first shipment of newly recycled asphalt to a nearby Victorian road project.

She said of the plants that there was a “lot of awe and inspiration that comes out of investments such as this” and that they exemplify how Victorian industry needs to be “smarter” in the ways it procures, uses and reuses products to “extract the optimum amount of value before it’s all spent” and relieve “pressure on the natural resources that we still have”.

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Quarry July 2019

Phil Schacht (far left) and Peter Murphy (second from left) with Victorian Minister Lily D’Ambrosio (third from left) and a delegation of other Victorian Government MPs and advisors on the deck of Alex Fraser’s new glass recycling plant.

Lily D’Ambrosio rings the cowbells to mark the official opening of the recycled asphalt plant.

To that end, D’Ambrosio said the Victorian Government had invested $135 million in a bid to continue to grow Victoria’s waste, resources and recovery industries. In the next year it will also review its interim emissions targets to 2030 in a bid to maximise employment and investment opportunities in these sectors.

“Alex Fraser Group is a really important leader in showing that you can get all of these things happening - growth, jobs creation, and a lower carbon footprint,” she said. “I look forward in particular to working with the Alex Fraser Group and Hanson more broadly to understand what the economic returns of these plants will be to our state and the jobs that can come out of that as we decide on what those interim targets will be early next year.”

Murphy was in agreement with the minister.

“When it comes to building greener roads, Victoria is paving the way but there is more to be done. We’re looking forward to working together with industry and government to develop the most sustainable asphalt mixes and build the greenest roads Victoria has seen.

“I’ve said many times Victoria sets a great example in terms of using recycled content, compared to other parts of the world that I’ve looked at and we’re only successful when we can engage with customers and regulators.”

It may have been a drab day for Alex Fraser’s dual plant launch but the plants were certainly the bright, “beautiful” spark that Victoria – and other states – likely need as they wrestle with the dilemmas of sustainably catering for infrastructure booms without compromising quarrying reserves. Alex Fraser’s new integrated sustainable materials supply hub, along with a string of other recycling businesses across the country, may yet provide the required value add.

“We’re trying to create a world class hub for construction materials that are sustainable,” Murphy said. “In the midst of a resources shortage, these facilities provide a significant capacity increase in the resources so urgently needed for Victoria’s big build. We have a metropolitan solution for a metropolitan problem, that reduces the carbon, congestion and cost associated with new infrastructure.”

Certainly, one of the reasons, Murphy said, Hanson Australia acquired Alex Fraser was “the opportunity to expand. These plants are a good example; the objective certainly is to grow the business further”.

Schacht echoed this sentiment. “In anyone’s view, a billion bottles each year is a significant achievement, especially when it’s recycled back into asphalt with no detriment to quality or performance,” he said. •

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RECYCLING

SEPARATION EQUIPMENT DELIVERS A HIGHER YIELD OF RECYCLABLES

D

estroying and recycling unwanted, recalled or retired merchandise can lead to an array of opportunities – and profit – for those recyclers with the right separation equipment. So when Nick Wildrick of Total Product Destruction (TPD) decided to upgrade his operation for greater yield, the majority of the company’s investment went toward new metal separation products.

TPD began its operating life destroying fully packaged CDs and software but today handles “anything that is not breathing”, according to Wildrick, who oversees 30 employees in the growing operation. In fact, the company’s mission statement offers clients a “cost-effective, convenient, reliable and confidential alternative to the timeconsuming task of disposing of defective or returned products that will never find its way to the open market”.

More than half of the 1000 tonnes per month of incoming material is postindustrial plastics, with the remainder consisting of small appliances, auto parts, pharmaceuticals, toys, clothing, shoes and even larger objects such as backyard grills.

That facility is now home to an Eriez 61cm x 30cm (24” x 12”) SS Magnetic Rare Earth (RE) drum in housing and a Concentric 122cm (48”) wide REA eddy current separator with vibratory feeder. “This now enables us to produce a cleaner product because we can get a wider variety of metals out of the products we end up shredding,” Wildrick said.

The process begins when merchandise is brought into the facility and conveyed through a shredder to bring the particle size down to 76mm (3”). It is then granulated to reduce the material to a 13mm (1/2”) to 6mm (1/4”) size. At this point, the company used a series of drawer-type magnetic grates to eliminate ferrous particulates, but ultimately switched to the more effective Eriez RE drum in housing.

“The drawer magnet was not a high volume tool,” Wildrick said. “Since we switched to the drum in housing, we can now take out much larger volumes of ferrous [materials].

And it’s self-cleaning so we don’t have a lot of downtime with this piece of equipment.”

The granulated material is fed through a 36

Quarry July 2019

The virtual process circuit for TPD’s metal separation products and feeders.

steel hopper, which has a non-magnetic stainless steel portion near the drum to prevent the hopper from being magnetically induced. The chute-type feed hopper provides increased efficiency of separation by regulating the material flow and burden depth to the face of the RE drum. It also prevents material from plunging directly onto the drum shell, ensuring long-term shell performance.

After ferrous removal, the remaining recyclable material moves through a 111cm wide x 91cm long (44” x 36”) feeder positioned before an Eriez eddy current separator (ECS) built to “extra tall” specifications. The ECS has 1.5m (5’) of clearance from the bottom of the discharge hoppers to the floor, allowing enough space to place a series of large container bins or gaylords that capture the recycled aluminium, brass and copper material, plus plastic, paper and wood. The ECS with vibratory feeder, conveyor, discharge chutes and frame measures 315cm high x 254cm wide x 500cm long (124” x 100” x 197”).

The key components of the ECS include an easy flow hopper, electromagnetic vibratory pan feeder, a tough urethane conveyor belt, high revolutions per minute (RPM) RE arched eddy current rotor, adjustable splitter

and discharge chutes, magnetic rotor, drive and belt conveyor. The external rotor shell is a high strength composite material that rotates at the conveyor speed. The internal, concentric RE arched rotor with alternating polarity turns at a much higher RPM than the external shell to separate particles of nonferrous metals.

Through the induction of eddy currents and the resulting repelling forces, the alternating magnetic field selectively repels the nonferrous metals and physically separates them from other materials with minimum product loss. Many components are adjustable, including splitter location, belt speed, rotor speed and hopper opening.

The combination drum in housing and ECS provide a higher yield and a cleaner plastic material that TPD can sell to compounders and extruders, according to Wildrick. The separated metals are sold to the recycled metals market. This means higher profits for the company and less waste sent to landfill.

Eriez is recognised as a global specialist in separation technologies for both the recycling and aggregates streams. The company’s Australian operation is based in Epping, Victoria. • Source: Eriez Australia

SAFETY

DUST SUPPRESSION IS BENEFICIAL FOR WORKERS, EQUIPMENT

W

ith horror stories about incidences of silicosis and lung disease in Queensland coal and masonry workers in the mainstream media in recent years, there has been renewed attention on the harmful effects of airborne respirable crystalline silica (RCS) in dust emissions.

While the quarrying industry has over a significant period of time adopted best practice safety measures to address the exposure of its workers to RCS – largely through the development of rigorous Australian exposure standards – there are always options to reinforce and bolster their health and well-being in dusty conditions.

“The nature of today’s bulk materials handling operations is that they produce plenty of dust,” Neil Kinder, the CEO of family-owned materials handling components supplier Kinder Australia, said. “Best practice dust control measures need to be implemented to ensure dust emission levels are industrycompliant and ensure the safety and health of all workers.”

Kinder said transfer point improvements are an important consideration for all conveyor belt applications. “Maximising productivity, protecting your most important assets – your people and your plant – and the effective suppression of dust emissions go hand in hand. Current dust suppression systems vary greatly in terms of cost, complexity and ease of implementation, and are highly dependent on an operation’s size, location and the surrounding environment.”

In extremely windy and dry conditions, dust is likely to escape beyond site boundaries, negatively impacting nearby eco-systems.

Ongoing excessive dust emissions can damage and interfere with the functionality of conveyor components, motors and machinery.

Kinder Australia has a comprehensive range of effective dust suppression solutions. An investment in high performance conveyor skirting and sealing systems can help to minimise dust emissions by targeting the critical conveyor transfer points and creating an effective sealing system. The seal should be located where the material is being loaded and continue to where it becomes stable.

This has the added benefits of eliminating belt tracking issues and improving conveyor reliability, performance and belt life.

Belt covers can contribute to airborne dust reduction and moisture level control.

Ongoing excessive dust emissions can damage and interfere with the functionality of conveyor components, motors and machinery.

Site inspections at one of Kinder Australia’s Asia-Pacific customers recently exposed major inefficiencies in the material flow. This included excessive conveyor material spillage and dust emissions between the existing skirting and the conveyor belt, due to the distance between frames. These inefficiencies resulted in frequent shutdowns and spiralling clean-up costs.

After previous installations of Kinder’s K-Sure belt support and K-Ultra dual seal systems at the manufacturing plant, maintenance teams agreed this combined conveyor belt support and skirting solution should be rolled out within the plant’s impact zone, under the chute. Two extra K-Sure belt support frames were added to reduce the gap support to 300mm solely for rail support, including a lead-on frame.

The customer has confirmed this dust and material spillage solution has exceeded its

expectations. The K-Sure system has assisted the conveyor belt by absorbing the full impact of conveyed material at the transfer point.

There have also been savings in clean-up costs due to a reduction in material spillage and optimal environmental dust containment.

In addition to keeping workers free from dust contamination and associated maintenance clean-up costs, Kinder’s Capotex conveyor belt covers also provide a protective barrier against the sun, wind and rain. They can contribute to airborne dust reduction and the moisture level control of conveyed materials.

Dust control also extends beyond protecting people and the environment. Conveyor components, machines, plant and equipment that are constantly exposed to dust will wear out faster than normal. Excessive dust emissions can often make maintenance and repair work more difficult and costly, resulting in lengthy, unscheduled downtime. Kinder’s K-MotorShield motor covers can protect electric drive motors, indirectly enabling them to run efficiently and preserving their wear life.

“When both material spillage containment and airborne dust is effectively suppressed and within acceptable industry standards, this can pave the way for operational improvements, continuous productivity, a safer and cleaner workplace for all workers and meeting environmental obligations,” Neil Kinder concluded. • Source: Kinder Australia

Quarry July 2019 37

SAFETY

MINE SAFETY: IS IT TOO MUCH, TOO FAR?

Mine safety may seem intimidating, tedious, time-consuming and arduous to quarrying producers. However, as Paul Skidmore explains, it is a positive, inclusive and productive process compared to the horrors of yesteryear.

M

ine safety, I can imagine you thinking. “Groan! Too many regulations! No time! No money!

Stops production! Too much paperwork!”

Come now, be honest! Is that what you thought?

Well, you’re not alone. This is a common reaction from all levels of the quarrying industry. Or did you think the following: • Mine safety laws protect me and my mates.

• My employees and contractors are looked after.

• When I look after safety, my workforce looks after me.

• This will save me money in the long term and keep me out of prison.

• I don’t want to go back to the way it was.

So, have we gone too far? Is safety now over the top? Should we go back to the “good old days”?

There has always been a balance between production, cost and safety.

Let’s see how safety has changed in mining and quarrying and ask ourselves these questions at the end.

THE ‘GOOD OLD DAYS’ Mining is an old industry. The oldest known mine is the Ngwenya ochre mine in Swaziland, dated at 43,000 years old.

The ancient Egyptians mined malachite at Maadi between 2600 BC and 2500 BC. Mining was mainly done by slaves, who were disagreeable, needed feeding and were certainly less reliable than a diesel loader!

So, we have been mining and quarrying across the world for a long time. Then, in the 18th century, mining became increasingly mechanised. Mining was motivated by 38

Quarry July 2019

To comply with safety management systems, quarry personnel are relying on central safety stations to access paperwork, personal protective equipment, fire extinguishers and first aid kits.

profit and there were no prescribed safety regulations. Children were used as cheap labour and could fit easily into the low tunnels (see illustration above). “Miner’s Lung” disease (pneumoconiosis) was common, leading to many early deaths.

Physical hazards were always present and there was no regulation to protect worker safety.

What do you think so far? It was certainly cheaper, slaves and kids were quite productive and agile workers didn’t get hurt!

Well, many people around the world felt working conditions in mining were unacceptable. This has led to improvements since 1840 which form the basis of mining safety law in Australia today.

Consider the timeline below: • In 1840, the mining royal commission was set up in Victorian England, following concerns about the mining industry. The findings were that accidents, brutality, lung disease, long hours and highly dangerous and adverse working conditions were normal! The public outcry led to the formation of the Mine Inspectorate in 1843.

• In 1851, the first Australian mine safety laws were introduced.

• In 1895, the Quarry Inspectorate was formed in England, following the Quarries Act of 1894.

• In New South Wales, the Coal Mines Regulation Act was introduced in 1912, followed by the Coal Mining Act of 1973, the Coal Mining Regulation Act of 1982 and the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act 2002.

• In 2013, NSW introduced the Work Health and Safety (Mines and Petroleum Sites) Act, with the regulation following in 2014. These laws supported the Work Health and Safety Act and Regulations in 2011, which followed the national model WHS laws introduced that year.

MODERN SAFETY LAWS Even with improved laws, disasters continued to plague mining in Australia. Up to 286 miners lost their lives from 1887 to 2006 in the mining disasters below: • 1887 – Bulli Mine disaster (gas explosion) – 81 dead.

• 1902 – Mount Kembla Mine (explosion) – 96 dead.

• 1921 – Mount Mulligan (coal dust explosion) – 75 dead.

• 1975 – Kianga (explosion) – 13 dead. • 1986 – Kianga (explosion) – 12 dead. • 1996 – Gretley (inundation) – four dead. • 1999 – Northparkes (windblast) – four dead. • 2006 – Beaconsfield (mine collapse) – one dead.

Combined with changes in legislation, employer initiatives and union pressure, this spurred efforts in Australia to improve mine safety. Based on fatalities in 2016, Australian mining was much safer than the transport, agriculture, forestry, fishing and construction sectors.

Today, many countries lag far behind Australia in mine safety. In 2014, more than 302 miners died in a mine collapse in Turkey, leading to the dubious distinction of the worst safety record in the world based on fatalities per tonne produced. In 2019, 240 people died after inundation from the collapse of a tailings dam wall in Brazil. In Myanmar, 50 people died following a tailings dam collapse. Seventeen died due to a gold mine collapse in Indonesia.

Deaths in Chinese coal mines have been

common up to the present day.

Improvements in Australia have come from sustained efforts to improve mine safety, starting back in 1840 in England, that have learned from past disasters and adopted new and better ways of managing risks.

All Australian mines and quarries are now covered by safety legislation that embodies a number of key principles, as follows: •T he elimination or control of hazards and the management of risks is now expected (where practicable). •W orkers must be consulted (yes, there will be debate). • Key mining risks are known and must be evaluated. Plans must be developed at each site for these risks. • Health risks must be considered, particularly dust inhalation. • A safety management system (aka SHMS) must be in place for a mine or quarry to legally operate. • There are major penalties for owners and officers who neglect safety, including prison time.

CONCLUSIONS So, back to our questions: • Have we gone too far? • Is safety over the top? • Should we go back to the “good old daysâ€??

We are now a long way from where mining began, when life expectancy was short and the quality of life was low.

The standards set in our current mining laws reflect the expectations in our society today, which is a long and healthy life! I think this is a better place to be.

What can you do? How about: • Reflecting on how far mine safety has come since the “good old daysâ€?? • Thinking about what is needed in your workplace?

Taking action! You have the power to make a difference. • Paul Skidmore is the principal of safety consultancy Smart Safety.

Visit smartsafetyonline.com

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LOAD & HAUL

MINE STRIKES GOLD WITH QUARRYSPEC ARTICULATED HAULERS

A

fleet of Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) articulated haulers have been busy at work in underground gold mines in Western Australia. Local distributor CJD Equipment and Volvo CE have worked with Australian gold producer Red 5 to build these machines to mine specifications in order for the haulers to work underground. The Volvo A45G articulated haulers have helped Red 5 to increase its productivity while reducing fuel consumption and maintenance costs.

Red 5 operates the Darlot and King of the Hills gold mines 900km northeast of Perth, in the Eastern Goldfields region. Since the acquisition of these mines, Red 5 has ramped up production across the operations to more than 100,000 ounces (or almost 3000kg) of gold per annum.

Part of this success can be attributed to the fleet of articulated haulers that were acquired in 2018. Red 5 credits them with boosting productivity and slashing fuel consumption by more than 50 per cent. Maintenance costs have been significantly reduced, and the mean time to repair has enormously improved.

Hauler availability on-site is at an all-time high.

Typically not an underground machine, the A45G trucks underwent modifications to fit mine specifications. Australian distributor for Volvo Construction Equipment, CJD Equipment built these A45G artic haulers with the following additions: • A diesel particulate filter exhaust.

• Flame-resistant fuel lines.

• Ceramic-coated exhaust components and insulation.

• AFFF fire suppression.

• Heavy-duty steel plates fitted to the front bumper for protection.

• Electrical corrosion protection to harness.

• LED lighting.

• Live oil sample points.

• Fluid evacuation points.

• Normal mine site fit-out, including isolators, E-stops, wheel chocks, hand rails.

After the haulers had worked more than 16,500 fleet hours, CJD Equipment received encouraging feedback from its WA Goldfields client.

“These trucks have been a game-changer for our operations,” said Geoff Hart, the maintenance superintendent at Darlot Gold Mine. “There was some hesitation 40

Quarry July 2019

Typically not an underground machine, Red 5 modified the A45G hauler to fit to mine specifications.

An A45G hauler at work in Red 5’s Darlot Gold Mine.

initially within the group, as we were doing something different from the rest of the industry, but one year on and I would have no hesitation in recommending a fleet of Volvo articulated haulers.”

Hart says switching from the dedicated underground haulers the site was previously running to the Volvo A45G articulated haulers has dramatically reduced maintenance costs and hugely improved average repair time. With an anticipated tyre life of about 4500 hours, tyre costs are expected to be significantly reduced compared with the previous fleet. The mine has also seen improved speed on grade thanks to the haulers’ tailgates, which have helped to keep the decline free from debris.

“Volvo’s A45Gs tick all of the boxes – reduced capital cost, reduced maintenance cost, increased productivity, and the drivers love them,” Hart said.

With a rated load capacity of 41 tonnes, the

A45G hauler is designed for higher productivity while reducing overall fuel consumption, so customers can move more for less. An optional on-board weighing system, which boosts fuel efficiency and reduces machine wear by guaranteeing an optimal load every cycle, can be installed on the hauler. With the on-board weighing system, average payloads are sitting at about 97.5 per cent. The hauler’s other features include the Volvo drivetrain, automatic traction control, all-terrain bogie and hydro-mechanical steering.

Red 5’s fleet of Volvo machines include the three A45G articulated haulers, one L260H wheel loader and several Volvo integrated tool carriers from CJD Equipment. Thanks to a strong and lasting relationship, Red 5 relies on CJD team for support, repairs and additional work. • Source: CJD Equipment

FLAGSHIP EXCAVATOR FOR THE TOUGHEST TASKS Volvo Construction Equipment’s largest excavator is now available in the Australian market. The 90-tonne crawler excavator is built for the toughest applications with the perfect combination of power and stability.

Featuring a wide track gauge, long track length, retractable undercarriage and an optimised counterweight, this solid machine can be operated in the toughest conditions.

The EC950E can move up to 35 per cent more material than its predecessor in the range. Featuring a high bucket capacity for more tonnes per hour, the machine can achieve fast, efficient on-site production.

Powered by a 446kW D16 engine, a bucket breakout force of 478kN (ISO) and an arm tearout force of 420kN (ISO), the EC950E offers enhanced digging force and quick cycle times, thanks to the improved hydraulics system, which increases pump

power for a fast and smooth operation.

Built with protected components, including a heavy-duty boom and arm, and strong frame structure, the machine can be relied on for durability and sustained uptime in demanding applications. A built-in,

heavy-duty plate is featured for additional protection to the underside of the machine.

Whether working for a quarry, in mass excavation or any other application, the EC950E excavator, along with Volvo CE’s durable wear-resistant components, has the potential to maximise profitability and increase productivity.

Volvo CE’s customer solutions include CareTrack, which provides important service reminders to increase efficiency.

This GPS monitoring program works with the machine’s diagnostic system to allow producers to remotely track usage, productivity, fuel consumption and more.

The system also monitors geographic machine location and can even prevent unauthorised use. • Source: CJD Equipment

2019 IQA EVENTS ACT BRANCH

NORTH QUEENSLAND BRANCH

VICTORIAN SUB-BRANCH

12 July 15 Nov

26 July Annual golf day, Cairns 13 Aug AGM and dinner meeting, Townsville 13 Sept Annual golf day, Townsville 8 Oct Technical and dinner meeting, Townsville 30 Oct Technical and dinner meeting, Cairns 15 Nov Christmas Party, Townsville

25 July 12 Sept 21 Nov

Dinner meeting Dinner meeting

NSW BRANCH 23 Oct Sixth Annual Quarries and Concrete Seminar

NSW ILLAWARRA SUB-BRANCH 17 July AGM and dinner meeting 30 Nov Races day/Christmas function (Venue TBA)

QUEENSLAND BRANCH 7 Aug Dinner meeting & AGM, Brisbane 24 Sept Breakfast meeting, Brisbane Sept (Date TBA) CMEMC 2019 15 Nov Lunch meeting, Brisbane

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BRANCH 12 July Women in Quarrying Conference, Adelaide Pavilion 30 Aug AGM/dinner, National Wine Centre 8 Nov Dinner meeting, Adelaide

CENTRAL QUEENSLAND SUB-BRANCH 19 July Annual golf day, Rockhampton 23 Oct Safety and Health Seminar, Rockhampton

Dinner meeting, Bendigo Dinner meeting, Ballarat Dinner meeting, Bendigo

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN BRANCH 7 Aug Breakfast meeting, Beaumonde on the Point, East Perth 3 Sept AGM and dinner meeting, Imperial Court Restaurant 22 Nov Annual golf day, Joondalup Resort

All dates and venues for the above branches are correct at time of press. Not all branches had confirmed their activities/ dates. For further information about IQA branch activities, contact your local branch representative (see IQA branch contacts on page 43) or visit quarry.com.au

PDP WORKSHOPS & EVENTS To register for the workshops below and for further information, visit: quarry.com.au, click on the link to “Education”, followed by “Upcoming Professional Development Programs”.

IQA 62ND ANNUAL CONFERENCE GMHBA Stadium, Geelong Football Club Geelong, Victoria 1-3 October (Tuesday to Thursday), 2019 “The Future of Quarrying” will be the theme of the IQA’s annual conference which this year will be hosted at the home of the Geelong Cats AFL Football Club. The conference program will focus on numerous topics, including: the maximisation of limited natural resources through technology; the benefits of effective management of workplace diversity; new developments in emerging fixed and mobile plant technology; environmental and economic trends impacting on the industry; and much more. In a first, the conference program will be hosted on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

For more information, visit quarry.com.au

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Quarry July 2019

QUALITY CONTROL & STATISTICS WPDP 8 July, 2019 Effective quality control forms an essential part of professional quarry production processes. Conformance with specifications, predictability and repeatability of product results helps quarry managers to control costs and ensure repeat business. This webinar is suitable for managers, quarry/ laboratory supervisors, testers and operational management employed or seeking employment in the industry.

QUARRYNZ 2019 17-19 July, 2019 ILT Stadium Southland Invercargill, New Zealand Registrations for the annual joint conference of the Aggregate and Quarry Association of New Zealand and the Institute of Quarrying New Zealand are now open to delegates,

partners, sponsors and distributors.

The conference is an opportunity for all those involved in the industry to interact and exchange ideas, hear the experiences of guest speakers and to socialise with old friends and colleagues, and to make new contacts.

The theme of the conference will focus on the region’s contribution to the New Zealand economy: Southern Rock Anchoring NZ. The social program will include three functions, tickets for which will be included in delegate and partner registration packages. For more information, visit quarrynz.com

COST MANAGEMENT FOR QUARRIES WPDP 22 July, 2019 With increased pressure on productivity, profitability, efficiency and asset utilisation, the focus on cost control has never been more important. Quarry managers are the front line in cost management. Daily

The Institute of Quarrying Australia

decisions directly influence monthly profit outcomes. This webinar defines the various cost terms used in the industry, discusses how they are influenced and provides potential system solutions to increase cost and performance visibility. It is suitable for managers, supervisors, operational employees and operational management employed or seeking employment in the industry.

SPECIFICATIONS WPDP 5 August, 2019 Specifications provide the basis for conformance of most construction materials.

This webinar will take the participant through the various documents that affect and influence quarry products. It will cover specifications as dictated by Australian Standards and state road authorities, and how to read and interpret specification documents. It is suitable for sales managers, technical/laboratory managers, quarry supervisors, testers and operational managers.

TEST METHODS WPDP 19 August, 2019 Many product issues encountered by quarry operators can be traced back to having a good understanding of the material and its properties. Having an understanding of how each test is performed and corresponding results determined can assist quarry personnel in recommending products to customers, as well as limiting future product technical claims or issues. It is suitable for sales managers, quarry managers, quarry supervisors, testers and operational management employed or seeking employment in the industry.

AIMEX 2019 Sydney Olympic Park 27-29 August, 2019 The Asia-Pacific International Mining Exhibition (AIMEX) is the largest in the region, with hundreds of mining suppliers, attracting thousands of producers across three days. It showcases the latest extractive technology, equipment and services, offering the opportunity for leading suppliers and buyers to conduct face-to-face business, stay informed of the latest trends and network in an interactive forum. AIMEX attracts local and international delegations sourcing Australian technology that can be

implemented into their mining operations.

For more information, visit aimex.com.au

CCAA CONCRETE PRACTICE COURSES & WORKSHOPS 24-25 September, Perth This course – developed in consultation with the industry for the industry – has been designed to provide participants with a detailed understanding of concrete material and behaviour in relation to physical properties, production, placing and associated on-site operations such as reinforcement and potential causes of failure.

It comprises two parts: (i) 14 eLearning modules that have been developed to enhance the industry’s knowledge of concrete, featuring embedded activities and assessments in a sequential, easy to follow and easy to navigate format; and (ii) workshops held around the country that will feature presentations from industry experts, Q&A panel sessions with industry experts, group work and case studies, and a final assessment.

Participants will be required to complete all modules prior to attending the workshop (as learnings will be referred to and enhanced during the two-day workshop), and should allow five to six weeks to complete all the modules. Registrations will close five weeks prior to each workshop and attendance at the two-day workshop is a requirement to complete the course.

A personalised certificate will be issued upon successful completion of parts i and ii of the course. The cost of admission is $1800 (inc GST) for CCAA members and $2200 (inc GST) for non-CCAA members.

For further information, contact the CCAA’s learning and development manager Ceridwen Jones, tel 02 9667 8319, email ccaaeducation@ccaa.com.au

10TH AUSTRALASIAN WASTE & RECYCLING EXPO ICC Sydney 30-31 October, 2019 From cutting-edge innovations to offset China’s National Sword Policy to second-life manufacturing, the 2019 Australasian Waste & Recycling Expo (AWRE) will showcase today’s global $US265 billion ($AUD379 billion) waste and recycling industry.

Participants will be exposed to a suite of full-circle innovative products and

sustainable solutions to collect, process and recycle waste more smartly.

Future critical areas will include plant and equipment, software and services, bins, vehicles, and food and organics.

Participants will also be able to connect with an influential community of waste and recycling professionals, suppliers/service providers, government departments, public sector bodies and special interest groups.

The free-to-attend AWRE Speaker Series, featuring renowned industry leaders, will focus on the latest challenges, developments, strategies and policies that are shaping Australasia’s waste and recycling industry. For more information and to register, contact Gina Millar, the event co-ordinator, tel 03 9261 4592, email awre@ divcom.net.au or visit awre.com.au

IQA NEW MEMBERS GRADE

NAME

BRANCH

Fellow Member Member Associate Associate Associate Associate Associate Associate Associate Associate Associate

Adam Betterman Adrian Bourke Nicholas Payne Anthony Ockers Vincent Adrait Lee Wilson Thiago Ferreira Andrew Roberts Maxim Dupree Timothy Storer Dominic Barro Trevor Tadman

SA VIC N QLD NSW QLD QLD QLD N QLD VIC VIC VIC WA

IQA BRANCH CONTACTS ACT

Peter Hewson: 0429 001 476

NSW

Gemma Thursfield: 0402 431 090

Northern Gemma Thursfield: 0402 431 090 Hunter Gemma Thursfield: 0402 431 090 Illawarra

Dylan Treadwell: 0418 632 057

Central West Mitchell Bland: 0428 462 987 NT

Darren McKenna: 08 8988 4520

QLD

Jennifer Milward: 0419 782 688

Gladstone Jennifer Milward: 0419 782 688 Townsville Jennifer Milward: 0419 782 688 Cairns SA

Chris Wilson: 0438 134 752 Marie Cunningham: 08 8243 2505

Tasmania Nicholas Palmer: 0418 126 253 Victoria

Eli Carbone: 03 8637 4723

Vic Sub-branch Craig Staggard: 0407 509 424

WA

Celia Pavri: 0417 027 928

Quarry July 2019 43

IQA NEWS

Precisionscreen kindly held its annual pre-golf breakfast.

Team H-E Parts is presented with the first prize by deputy branch chairman David Smith (centre).

QUEENSLAND BRANCH NEWS More than 150 golfers braved a wet Friday morning on 17 May for the branch’s annual golf day at the Oxley Golf Club. They convened for a breakfast kindly put on by Precisionscreen before assembling for the day’s play. Luckily, the rain stopped midmorning, and everyone arrived dry at the clubhouse following play.

The team from Groundwork Plus came a creditable second.

North Queensland branch members toured the Mareeba Airport development on 14 May.

CENTRAL QUEENSLAND SUB-BRANCH MEETING

the site tour, the group gathered at the Tolga Hotel for dinner and drinks, where guest speaker Jordan Pye, the waste technical officer for Mareeba Shire Council, reported on pending changes to waste disposal management. Bolwarra Enterprises was a kind sponsor of this event.

The recent Central Queensland sub-branch dinner meeting was held at the Rockhampton Leagues Club. Contract pitfalls and contract risk management were the topics addressed by guest speakers Craig Gillies from Core Lawyers and Jeremy Murfin from Corporate and Commercial Insurance Brokers.

The sub-branch’s next meeting will be its annual golf day in Rockhampton on 19 July. A Safety & Health Seminar is planned for Rockhampton on 23 October. For more information, contact the Queensland branch secretariat, tel 0419 782 688, email adminqld@quarry.com.au or visit the “Networking” page of the IQA website: quarry.com.au

The branch’s next technical meeting and AGM will be on 7 August in Brisbane. For more information, contact the Queensland branch secretariat, tel 0419 782 688, email adminqld@quarry.com.au or visit the “Networking” page of the IQA website: quarry.com.au 44

Quarry July 2019

By Jennifer Milward

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BRANCH NEWS The SA branch’s first dinner meeting for the year on 24 May was a huge success and attracted nearly 120 guests. This was the first opportunity for many members and suppliers to network in a relaxed atmosphere. It was very pleasing to see a lot of new faces coming to their first IQA function.

The winning team on the green was from H-E Parts, followed by Groundwork Plus in second place and Ausrocks in third. A second team from H-E Parts collected the NAGA, marking one of the few instances when the same company collected prizes for both first and last places!

The golf day sponsors again made this an eventful and fun day on the green. They included Precisionscreen, Ritchie Bros Auctioneers, Weir Minerals, CPR Group, TFI Tyres, Metso, Crusher Spares Australia, RUD Australia, Groundwork Plus, Impact Drill & Blast, Saros International, Ausrocks, H-E Parts, Komatsu, Scope Engineering, Orica, Astec Australia, MSC Group, Epiroc, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Minprovise), Terex Jaques and Crushing Equipment. Metso also raised money for donation to the Cancer Council – players kindly provided $140 on the day.

The branch’s next major event will be the Cairns sub-branch’s annual golf day on 26 July. This will be followed by the branch’s AGM in Townsville on 13 August. For more information, contact the Queensland branch secretariat, tel 0419 782 688, email adminqld@quarry.com.au or visit the “Networking” page of the IQA website: quarry.com.au

Central Queensland sub-branch members recently met in Rockhampton.

NORTH QUEENSLAND BRANCH NEWS Kinder Australia kindly sponsored the recent annual dinner meeting in Mackay on 21 May. Tim Storer, the field applications specialist for Kinder Australia, reported on the correct selection of skirting and transfer points before Sam West, the project manager for CPB Contractors, discussed the Mackay Ring Road Project.

A site tour was conducted of the Mareeba Airport Project on the Tablelands on 14 May. Jarryd Londino and Brendan Rogina, the project engineer and operations manager respectively of FGF Developments, kindly guided all members through the site. Following

As part of the formalities, Associate membership certificates were presented by branch chairman Andrew Wilson to new members Megan Coles (Groundwork Plus) and Adrian Parkin (ResourceCo).

Congratulations were also in order for Adam Betterman (Lucas TCS), who received his Fellow Member certificate and FIQ badge.

Andrew Cameron (Penrice Quarry &

SA branch chairman Andrew Wilson (third from right) presented certificates to Megan Coles (far left), Adam Betterman (second from left) and Adrian Parkin (right).

The Institute of Quarrying Australia

FROM THE CEO

RENEWALS, AWARDS, CONFERENCE: A BUSY SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR 2019 IQA Conference I’m pleased to announce that early bird registrations are now in effect for the 2019 IQA conference, to be held at GMHBA Stadium, Geelong from 1 to 3 October.

The conference includes a detailed, fun and informative programme including presentations from many nationally acclaimed industry speakers and experts that cover a diverse range of subjects pertinent to the extractive industry, awards presentations, industry site tours of Boral Deer Park and Barro Point Wilson, and (for many the highlight of our conferences), the “sought after” networking and social gala events sponsored by Hitachi, Komatsu and Caterpillar. For more information and how to register, visit conference.quarry.com.au

IQA Awards Each year the IQA recognises through a number of awards the contributions of individuals and sites to the growth and improvement of the extractive industry. The awards process recognises the significant achievements across the industry which promote leadership and excellence. The awards profile the valuable contributions of the industry to the community and aim to further the discussion about quality

Mineral) gave an insight into the recent Young Members Network tour of the Hillgrove Resources Kanmantoo copper mine and Hanson’s Kanmantoo quarry on 5 April. The tour was restricted to 15 people and sold out quickly.

All members were amazed at the size and depth of the open cut Hillgrove pit and by the variety and quality of the dimension stone products produced at the Kanmantoo quarry.

During the evaluation and networking session at the end, Associate membership certificates were presented to Jake Schmidt and Zach Sims (Clare Quarry).

Danny Parkinson (Lendlease) was the guest speaker for the evening and presented on the $885 million Northern Connector project.

improvement, environment and safety.

Nominations are now open for the 2019 Awards, with the closing date of 6 August, 2019. Winners will be presented and fêted at the 2019 conference from 1 to 3 October.

For more information about the awards and to make a submission or nomination, visit quarry.com.au/awards

2019-20 membership renewals Membership of the IQA is open to everyone with appropriate qualifications and/or experience in, or supplying to, the surface mineral extractive and processing industries.

This includes hard rock quarrying, sand and gravel (both land-based and marinedredged), recycling, special sands, cement, lime, gypsum, clays, coal, slate, asphalt, ready-mixed concrete and concrete products. The Institute also embraces all the professional and consultancy services which support the industry, and there is a special section reserved for those engaged in the supply of plant, equipment, materials and services.

Membership of the IQA is about demonstrating your professionalism and commitment to the minerals extractives industry.

Becoming a member of the IQA means:

• Proving evidence of competence in your field of operation.

• Showing your ongoing commitment to learning and development.

• Actively participating in and promoting industry standards.

• Being a part of a wider industry community that shares knowledge and best practice.

To renew your membership, visit quarry.com.au/renew KYLIE FAHEY Chief Executive Officer Institute of Quarrying Australia

The Northern Connector is a six-lane, 15.5km motorway providing a vital freight and commuter link between the Northern Expressway, South Road Superway and Port River Expressway.

Danny’s presentation focused on the enormous volumes of fill and pavement materials, aggregates and cement needed to fulfil the demands of the project.

The presentation was insightful and highlighted that it was the first concrete pavement road in South Australia.

SA Young Members during their visit to the Kanmantoo region in April.

The SA branch again thanks its sponsors for their continued support. It ensures the branch remains relevant, vibrant and effective for its members.

events, contact the SA branch secretariat, tel 0409 144 122, email sa-admin@quarry.com. au or visit the “Networking” page of the IQA website: quarry.com.au

For more information about upcoming

By Marie Cunningham

Quarry July 2019 45

GEOLOGY TALK

A NEW AGE OF ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION

Drones are measuring stockpiles, confirming clearance before blasts, monitoring traffic and road conditions, and providing real-time aerial footage.

Members of the Iron Panthers were part of the Winning Alliance of the robotics competition.

From a miniature robot championship in Texas, to the wide expanses of the Pilbara, to one day possibly the red landscape of Mars, Bill Langer discusses how robotics has become a staple of the extractive industries …

drones to measure stockpiles, confirm clearance before blasts, monitor traffic, road conditions and hazards, and to provide real-time aerial footage.

Some companies are also looking to take drones underground to inspect dusty, restricted cavities and map the environment using 3D laser scanner technology.

Automation is not restricted to the confines of the mine. In the outback near the Pilbara, a fully autonomous heavy-haul railway is up and running, with locomotives fitted with complex on-board computer systems and cameras.

These systems are linked to 4G networks that send automatic reports on the trains’ position, speed and direction of travel to a control centre more than 1500km away.

As an added safety measure, crossings along the route have cameras to provide real-time feedback.

We are living in an incredible age of invention and innovation. Autonomous operation and robotics have great potential to improve the efficiency and safety of the aggregates industry.

Who knows, maybe some time in the future a graduate from the Anthem Bolts will design a robot to help automate your quarrying operation on Mars! •

T

he convention centre in Houston, Texas, has been divided into four arenas. Each arena is set up like a space station on Mars, with habitats and rocket ships with open cargo bays.

On opposite sides of the arenas are two alliances, each consisting of three robots constructed by robotics clubs comprised of secondary school students.

Welcome to the 2019 FIRST Robotics World Championship! FIRST is a non-profit advancing science, technology, engineering and mathematics for young people.

At the “Go” command, each robot has 15 seconds to navigate autonomously; their vision is obscured by black curtains simulating a Martian sandstorm. After the storm abates the robots are guided by wireless remote control. They have to batten hatches and drop payload into the secured cargo bays. Meanwhile, a robot from the other alliance runs defence to keep opposing robots from accomplishing their goal.

Near the end each robot attempts to return to its habitat and, if properly engineered and constructed, climb onto raised tables. Three days of competition decide the winner.

If you don’t think this is exciting, you are sorely mistaken – especially if your grandkids are on the rookie team, the Anthem Bolts,

46

Quarry July 2019

their mother (our daughter) is the coach, and the Bolts finished 13th in a field of more than 300 teams from 23 countries!

So how does all of this relate to quarrying?

Well, Caterpillar, for one, was a strategic sponsor of the world championship.

And why would it sponsor such an event?

Because autonomous vehicles and robotics are certainly in the future of mining.

Hundreds of millions of tonnes of mined material has already been moved by autonomous haul trucks using high precision GPS, radar and laser sensors to navigate haul roads while avoiding people, vehicles and other obstacles. Because there are no shift changes, breaks or lunches, the autonomous trucks have perhaps a 20 per cent greater production record than manned vehicles – and impeccable safety records.

A number of companies manufacture automated drill rigs that can drill blasthole patterns and monitor ground conditions more quickly and accurately than human-operated equipment. Robotic mechanical shovels equipped with automation technology can also operate in unstable or unsafe areas while improving efficiency and productivity.

Mines around the world are using drones to help gather information about their sites.

For example, some mining companies use

Bill Langer is a consultant geologist.

Email bill_langer@hotmail.com or visit researchgeologist.com

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