Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Founded by Roy Watterson, Lincom has been an official Powerscreen distributor for Australia and Papua New Guinea for more than 20 years, and has recently expanded their territory to include New Zealand due to the country’s demand for high quality equipment arising from an increased volume of projects. While business continues to grow in other territories, Lincom is notably supplying a lot of new Powerscreen® crushing and screening equipment to customers in South Australia, such as Kanmantoo Bluestone.
Kanmantoo Bluestone: Bernard Clifford established Kanmantoo Bluestone in 1977, which has been producing and distributing authentic bluestone building products across Australia ever since. The stone is sorted, picked, split, sized and stacked all by hand. They also cut dimension bluestone and veneers. The site has been a source of stone for local fences and farmhouses since the late nineteenth century.
Approximately four years ago, Bernard decided it was time to expand and began looking at supplying crushed aggregates, railway ballast, road bases and rubbles. He initially hired contractors to produce these materials for him and even hired some equipment to fill in when the outside contractors could not get on site or produce the required end product specifications. After going through this process for a couple of years, Bernard decided it would be more cost effective for his company to purchase their own equipment.
“Having looked at numerous crushing plants around Australia, I was impressed with the Powerscreen® crushing and screening equipment distributed by the Lincom Group, and with regular interaction with their Sales Manager, it became apparent that this was my preference,” said Bernard, “I spoke to a number of operators and it was clear that I needed machines that could produce both a high quantity and quality of material.”
Due to the nature of the rock and the way that it fractures, it was decided that the first part of the plant would require an impact crusher to produce the railway ballast. So a Powerscreen® 1412 impact crusher was used to primary crush the raw product, which was then fed to a Powerscreen® Chieftain 2100X with a 20’ x 5’ three deck screen box, with the oversize being re-circulated back to the impact crusher. The railway ballast was stockpiled out on one side, sand and dust were taken out the back and the bottom deck conveyed oversize material to a Vertical Shaft Impactor (VSI) to shape the material which was then fed to another Powerscreen® Chieftain 2100X to split the product into aggregates.
After running this system for a while, due to increased sales, a Powerscreen® Maxtrak 1000 cone crusher was added to help increase the production rates. A Powerscreen® Warrior 1400 heavy duty screening plant with a 12’ x 5’ two deck screen was also purchased and is used to scalp out material or screen rubble when required.
Jason Cliffordoperates the crushing & screening plant and said, “In regards to the backup, support and knowledge from Lincom – it is very good and of a high standard. Their knowledge of the machines and the internal working parts is outstanding. Their after sales support is impressive and they always answer their telephone calls or respond in a very short time frame.”
For more information on Powerscreen® crushing, screening or washing products or Customer Support, please contact your local dealer. Details can be found at www.powerscreen.com.
