Roma-ncing the Stone
It’s the most modern Midas touch story – turning solid rock into gold. Maranoa Regional Council is sitting on a reserve of basalt which will see the south west Queensland shire flourish, following a cutting-edge deal with the nation’s leading asphalt technology producer’s ASTEC Australia.
IT’S a warm western Wednesday morning, and on the outside, there’s nothing particularly pretty about Roma Quarry, 33 kilometres north as the proverbial crow flies, from the centre of town.
But dig a little deeper, literally, and the rock star, or in this case the star rock, lies beneath.
Kenny Wafford, of Oregon based KPI-JCI – a sister company of ASTEC Australia which commissioned the $5 million worth of technology to the quarry – sits in the coveted air-conditioned site office and outlines the statistics in his broad American drawl.
Between 215 and 230 tonnes an hour of aggregate can be crushed on the site courtesy of the ASTEC delivered and assembled six pieces of equipment, which includes:
- JCI F2300 cone crushing plant
- JCI F26203 closed circuit screening plant
- JCI FT5162I track screening plant
- KPI FT2650 jaw crusher
- JCI FT200 cone crushing plant
- KPI radial stacker conveyor
Production on the site, just off the Warrego Highway, has increased significantly from previous hire arrangements which were costing council a hefty $1 million a year to rent.
Now, the time from when a raw rock extracted from the quarry is placed into the equipment, passes through the screen, into the cone crusher, returns through another screen and is divided into material that can be used, takes less than one minute.
In human terms, in the US alone, America’s population of 300 million uses 10 square metres of aggregate in some form, per head, per year.
At Roma Quarry, 230 tonnes produced an hour equates to four road trains of aggregate an hour.
“That’s a lot of rock,” Wafford says.
In Roma’s notoriously hot summers, synthetic oil is used in the bearing machines which keeps the oil at a low temperature, prevents is from breaking down and uses around 64 litres of oil as opposed to 567 litres.
The machine also carries a dust control mechanism which allows up to 900 hours of use without cleaning, as well as a water misting system which delivers a thin fog of water on the site, suppressing dust to which workers would otherwise be exposed.
Maranoa Regional Council Operations Director Andrew Byrnes says they aim to re-seal about 60 kilometres of road in the community every year and lay or rehabilitate between 40 and 50 kilometres of road.
“That does ensure a big market for the stone,” he says. “We’ve spent quite a bit of money on ensuring that we’ve got the product here to start with.”
Byrnes says Roma Quarry was developed in the early 50s by Boral and a private contractor. But it wasn’t until 2006 that council hired crushing equipment, to work the 16 hectare site.
KPI-JCI International Sales co-ordinator Randy Orre, who visited the site in December, says it represents the first project of its kind in Australia for the company.
Properly maintained and serviced, the equipment has a life span of at least 15 to 20 years. “In general, we feel we’ve got a more efficient machine, the best quality in terms of design and materials used and processes used to produce the equipment,” he says
“We do that better than anyone in the industry. We don’t approach the market from a price angle. It is not our desire to go out and be the lowest cost supplier of anything.
“Our market niche is technical advantage, quality and support. We know that customers still value that, particularly in our industry.”
Maranoa Quarry Manager Dave Grace says it will take around 12 months to realise the full potential of the new equipment, but early indications is it is working well.
“It is reasonably obvious from what we’ve already seen that there is going to be more through put, more stone on the ground, and that can only help us,” he says.
“They seem to be well-built machines. These are the first in the country. We are more than happy with the support we are getting from ASTEC. They have a real determination to make it work.
“Their professionalism and dedication to getting this gear up and running has been brilliant. They are bending over backwards to make this work for us.With this new gear we’ve got a big potential for growth.”
For more information contact Tony Barton Astec Sales Manager on 07 3279 1422, 0419 652 942 or tbarton@astecaustralia.com.au
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