Operating in Western Australia’s gold mining sector, MACAR Group has turned to a Striker CQ400 cone crusher from Onetrak to handle a challenging project
With Western Australian crushing and screening specialist MACAR Group looking to expand its reach in the gold processing industry, and a tight timeframe to get a crusher up and running, the business turned to Striker distributor Onetrak to find a solution.
At the beginning of September, a Striker CQ400 cone crusher joined MACAR Group’s fleet and is now processing scats at a gold processing plant in Meekatharra.
The first Striker machine to join the fleet, and the first to be supplied by Onetrak, MACAR Group owner Matt Kelly says it’s a challenging application, but the CQ400 cone crusher is living up to the Striker reputation.
“This is our first purchase, but we’ve got a good relationship with Striker,” Matt says.
“With my background as a boilermaker and fitter I’m familiar with Striker machinery, and their ease of use and accessibility has always stood out.
“We were looking for a cone crusher and Striker couldn’t supply us a machine in the timeframe we had, so they put us on to Onetrak and they’ve been fantastic.”
Building a business
MACAR Group has been operating across WA since 2021, run by Matt and his wife Carrie. Matt says his previous experience of maintaining and operating crushing equipment led them to set up their own business – initially working with Holcim Australia.
After purchasing a reclaimer screen, the next step was to expand within the Goldfields and Murchison regions of WA.
“We’ve done crushing at the Granny Smith mine for Gold Fields and we’ve just started a project for Westgold,” Matt says.
“We’re pushing hard in the gold sector at the moment.”
With a long-term plan to build a fleet of Striker machinery, Matt says the starting point is the CQ400 cone crusher. Currently it is crushing 25mm milled rock down to -8mm “and getting through it really well”.
“At the gold plant, when they crush and then put the ore through a mill, there’s a certain size that they screen out, which in this case is 25mm,” he says.
“However, it comes out with a lot of mill balls and steel in it. So Onetrak also built us a feeder with a magnetic head drum, which is doing a great job at pulling all the steel out before we crush it.”
Clear favourite
When asked why he chose a Striker machine, Matt says the design of the crushing chambers produces a better end product, and the ease of use means new operators can quickly be trained to run the machine.
“It’s very simple for our guys to pick up if they haven’t used the Striker machine before,” he says.
“They’re user friendly, so, if we were to dry hire this machine out, that’s a benefit. Instead of someone taking three or four days to learn the ins and outs of a machine, with this cone crusher, within a day they can have a pretty good handle on how it works. Plus, as a brand, Striker are reliable and proven.
“At the moment we’re crushing around 80 to 90 tonne an hour, which is slow, but it’s also very hard work. Every single rock has to be crushed to that specific size.”
Another advantage is the use of a Cat engine, which means parts are easily accessible and the majority of mechanics are already familiar with the brand. Having spent years repairing and operating crushing machinery, Matt says the design of Striker equipment stands out for its ease of maintenance.
“Striker builds machines that are very easy to work on,” he says.
“When you’re a fitter and you need to fix something, you need to be able to get in there quickly, without having to strip half the machine to pieces.
“On a Striker, I can access 90 per cent of the stuff on there no problem.”
Matt adds that Onetrak has been highly supportive in quickly getting him the machine that he needed.
“Onetrak have just been amazing so far,” he says.
“They’ve gone out of their way to help us build and they want to see us grow. There’s a very good relationship between us, that’s for sure.”
With MACAR Group continuing to grow its presence in the Western Australian market, Matt says a major focus is safety and quality of service, with Striker machinery the brand of choice for him as he continues to build his fleet.
“We’re focusing on the safety side and our strong maintenance background,” he says.
“By the end of this year, we’ll have our ISOs done so we can stand out a bit more. We don’t want to be the biggest, but we want to be the safest and the best.”
For more information on Onetrak’s range of Striker machinery, go to: onetrak.com.au
For any crushing and screening enquiries, contact MACAR Group on 0427212259 or matt@macargroup.com.au
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