Sandvik cone crusher used for new rail link

According to Africa sales manager Wayne Warren, the equipment was supplied to meet a customer's specific need for -63mm stone for use as rail ballast material.

"The required size is too small to be produced by a jaw crusher in high volumes and too large for a conventional cone crusher to produce without 'over crushing' and generating an excess amount of waste. Our partnership with Sandvik has given us access to the US440i, a product designed to meet these circumstances and something we believe will add value to many of our customers' operations."

Two important areas

The client was invited to South Africa to see the cone crusher in operation and executives were impressed by its capacity to meet the project's needs in two important areas. "Firstly its ability to process up to -63mm material from a jaw crusher working at maximum capacity in a single pass. Secondly, the quality and quantity of its output - well shaped material accompanied by a minimum quantity of fines."

The outcome was the customer's investment in a complete suite of Sandvik products which, in keeping with Pilot Crushtec International's southern Africa distributorship credentials, were all available ex-stock with full installation backup. The three products constitute a primary crusher QJ341 mobile jaw crusher that feeds the US440i which in turn sends material through to the QA451 triple deck screen.

All oversize material is fed directly back to the US440i on the screen's oversize belt which minimises the re-handling of the final product. The combination is achieving results well beyond the customer's original expectations, and Warren explains that the crusher's large close size setting is enabling it to reliably deliver up to 150 tons of well shaped rail ballast per hour.

Remoteness of site

The remoteness of the site proved not to be an obstacle even though all three tracked machines had to be trammed the final few kilometres to their destination. The installation and commissioning process conducted by a joint team of Sandvik and Pilot Crushtec International personnel took place without a hitch, clear evidence that the products and technical back up are more than a match for the most severe African conditions.

The new rail line will extend from Tete in north central Mozambique through Malawi to the Indian Ocean port of Nacala on the Mozambique coast. Its primary function will be to act as a conduit for the shipment of coal destined for export markets.