MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falkland Islands quarry enlists crushing and screening train from Sandvik

To meet the logistically challenging requirements of this process, Sandvik Mobile Crushers and Screens were enlisted to ensure production

The Falklands Pony’s Pass Quarry is a busy site at the heart of industrial operations and produces 160,000 tons per annum of quartzitic sandstone using a state-of-the-art mobile crushing and screening train.

To meet the diverse and logistically challenging requirements of this process, Sandvik Mobile Crushers and Screens were enlisted to ensure productive and well-engineered machines were at the centre of this valuable operation.

Being the only operational quarry on the Falklands, Pony’s Pass carries the burden of responsibility for ensuring the Islands’ broad range of aggregate demands are met.

Owing to differing customer requirements, the crushing and screening equipment must guarantee productivity, be durable in design and offer the operators flexibility in what they produce.

The quarry currently provides aggregates for road construction and infrastructure development projects, as well as supplying an on-site asphalt plant.

Current demand sits at 160,000 tons per year; however, future developments, such as the new port facilities will see this increase to more than 300,000 tons.

The chosen crushers and screens consist of a UJ440i jaw crusher, two UH440i cone crushers, a QI442HS impactor and two QA451 triple deck Doublescreens, and since commissioning, the equipment has performed well with output levels always meeting expectations.

Quarry manager Marc Short explained: ‘We currently use our mobile crushers to produce three small end materials, these being 10/20mm, 5/10mm and 0/5mm crusher dust.

‘However, we have the ability to produce Type 1 (all in 0/32mm) and secondary crusher run all in (0/75mm). The machines are tracked up to the blast site where they are fed with as-blasted material with a maximum feed size of 700mm.’

The abrasive nature of the quartzitic sandstone and the need for machines that can deliver maximized uptime meant that it was essential for the quarry to have a durable and productive primary jaw crusher before the material is passed through to the secondary crushing stage.

The heavy-duty UJ440i jaw crusher has proved to be the ideal solution for the quarry. The jaw settings are easily adjusted hydraulically with a choice of jaw plates to suit the needs of the operation.

This means that the crusher can work at optimum levels for longer periods, with all impact zones having a rubber lining to reduce wear and noise. In addition, the 62.5-tonne crusher has a 1,200mm x 830mm jaw opening, allowing it to deal with the 700mm feed at throughputs up to 250 tonnes/h.

Following the UJ440i jaw crusher, the rock is fed into the UH440i cone crushers and the Doublescreens for precision sizing. Sandvik’s 50-tonne UH440i cone crushers are specifically aimed at large scale aggregates producers’ requirements, whilst the QA451 is the world’s first triple-deck Doublescreen.

The result is the production of fractions the quarry’s customers require. Mr Short explained: ‘0/5mm, 5/10mm and 10/20mm is used for concrete and asphalt production. Type 1, secondary and crusher dust is used for road construction. Some of the larger products are also used to build up sites with fill etc. (Source Sandvik)