Thanks to the innovative use of Metso Mobile crushing and screening products, B&E International (Pty) Ltd has set up a production train that consistently produces G1 road stone product at a rate in excess of 550 tonnes per hour (tph). This is regarded as one of the first mobile trains in the region to achieve these volumes and incorporates the first Metso Lokotrack 330D combination cone crusher and 11m² triple deck screen to be put into action on the continent.
 
Sandro Scherf, CEO of Pilot Crushtec International, the sole southern African distributor for Metso Mobile aggregates products and services, describes the process around this literally ground-breaking engineering achievement.
 
“The train consists of four Metso products: 700mm dolerite feed material is first processed by an LT120 jaw crusher and is then fed into a Lokotrack 300GPS secondary cone crusher which is capable of accepting material up to 320mm in size. This in turn feeds the Lokotrack LT330D combination cone crusher and triple deck screen before quaternary crushing is completed in an existing Metso 9100 vertical shaft impact crusher.”
 
He explains that the cone crushers play complementary roles in obtaining production volumes of this magnitude. The Lokotrack 300GPS is capable of a prodigious output and key to the success of the train as a whole is the LT330D combination product’s ability to process, screen and recirculate massive volumes of secondary material.
 
According to Scherf, both of the cone crushers were specially purchased by B&E to produce high volumes of aggregate for sale to its customers.
 
The company is noted for the prominent role it plays in a variety of industries, including mining, crushing and quarrying as well as producing its own static high volume mineral processing plants. B&E, which is expected to achieve a turnover of R1 billion in 2016, is an experienced user of Metso Mobile products, operating a fleet of well in excess of 40 units.
 
Director plant and engineering Ken Basson explains the solid reasoning behind this long-lasting relationship:
 
“Metso products fit well with our business model as their characteristics and capabilities deliver the key factors essential to our operation’s high volume capacities combined with ease of operation and inbuilt reliability. It is critical to keep unit costs as low as possible and the higher volumes as they can yield a cost effective competitive advantage.”
 
Basson is also upbeat about the appointment of Pilot Crushtec International as regional distributor of its products.
 
“This is a welcome decision by Metso. We have been dealing with them for many, many years and they have an excellent track record which includes high standards of field service,” he concludes.