Materials

Tamtron has developed a new system for managing stockpiling of bulk materials such as aggregates and other crushed products. The system is called iStock, which makes it possible to weigh each bucket load of a wheeled loader accurately. The control system works when material is loaded from stock to a truck and the system allows a company to keep precise track of material stockpiles at an operation.

Close to Sweden's second largest city Göthenburg lies the efficient Jehander quarrying operation run by Heidelberg Cement. The site produces around 9,000tonnes/day at peak seasonal demand and has an output of some 1,000,000tonnes/year. The site has recently renewed its operating permission and now has the necessary approval to work until 2021. Niklas Osvaldsson is regional manager for Heidelberg Cement and said, "Since early 2000 this has been part of the Heidelberg Group." Stone production originally st

XCMG has developed several new products including a new wheeled excavator, an asphalt plant and new rigid dump truck models. The ET110 excavator is a versatile machine with its wheels mounted on hydraulically adjustable arms that allow the unit to operate on uneven terrain and on slopes. The new XAP320 asphalt plant is a fourth generation machine that is said to feature considerable performance upgrades over the firm’s previous units.

Atlas Copco says that its latest T-thread drilling system offers up to 30% longer service life over previous designs. The new T-WiZ drill string comes with a combination of T-WiZ Speedrods and T-WiZ shank adapters and this system allows fewer rod changes and more productivity/shift. The T-WiZ features a tough thread system and is robust enough to prevent product breakage in the blast hole. Using this system boosts bench and production drilling according to the firm, with increases in productivity and an inc

Moba’s MDS-2000 Drilling System is being used for the first time in a South American quarry. Used over two shifts by operators since September 2011 to monitor and control drill blast holes at a granite quarry in Vacamonte, Panama, Moba has equipped an HCR-1200 EDII type drilling device from FRD Furukawa Rock Drill with the drilling system in collaboration with B-B-S Bohrsysteme. The MDS-2000 enables drill holes to be made parallel to each other and to the desired depth and pre-set angle.

Volvo’s new L250G wheel loader is being tested for the first time by a German family-run quarrying, logistics and concrete plant company with growing customer demands. Löderburger Baustoff + Transport (LBT), part of the larger Ferdinand Wesling Group, is using the machine at its two million tonnes a year yield limestone quarry in Stassfurt.

New machines are now coming to the international market, with Chinese firms producing a particularly strong showing. At the last BICES exhibition in Chinese capital Beijing, one of the most notable developments was how many of the country’s equipment manufacturers now offer ranges of soil compaction and/or asphalt compaction equipment.

Toyo says that its hydrostatically driven submersible pumps provide performance benefits over rival electrically driven units. Features include robust construction and special metallurgies coupled with hydraulic motors that deliver high torque at low speed and which can handle tough applications. With the hydraulic piston motor featuring adjustable rotation speed, the capacity and the pressure supplied by the pump can be adapted to application and site requirements. The motors can cope with slurrie

Innovations in drilling and blasting and crushing and screening are bringing major economies of scale to aggregate production operations. Drilling and blasting is an area where new technology is offering major saving to quarrying companies. This is another important factor in the quarrying process, as inefficient drilling and blasting can have major financial repercussions.