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Equipment focus: Metso LT120 mobile jaw crushing plant

The purchase of a new Metso LT120 mobile jaw crushing plant is helping an independent quarry in Ashby, NSW meet increasing demand for its sandstone construction aggregates.


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Lewis Quarry is a family-owned, independent quarry business owned and operated by Brian Lewis and his son Daniel. Although operating since 1981, the Lewis’ have been at their current site at Ashby since 1991 and the site produces a range of rock products including crusher dust, base and sub-base, aggregate, cobble, hammered rock and oversized rock.

Since the move in 1991, the business has grown and now sells in excess of 200,000 tonnes of product annually. This demand, coupled with a desire to supply the nearby Pacific Highway Upgrade project, meant an existing mobile jaw crusher that had become unreliable would have to be replaced.

After much consideration, Brian and Daniel settled on a Metso LT120 from local Metso distributors Tutt Bryant Equipment and say they have been happy with the result. Brian estimates that in the four months since purchasing the unit it has processed more than 150,000 tonnes of raw material.

“Bloody amazing, it’s bullet proof,” Brian says.

“It really is all about the reliability. We recently had two 40t excavators feeding it flat out, it didn’t miss a beat and ate everything we gave it!”

Powered by a 310kW Cat C13 diesel engine, the LT120 mobile plant houses a C120 jaw crusher with a high-capacity feed hopper providing a continuous flow of material. The crushed material is then discharged from the main conveyor at a height of 3.4 metres.

The LT120 can also be controlled remotely via a Metso ‘ICr’ control unit installed in an excavator. Daniel Lewis says changing feeder and crushing settings directly from his excavator saves time and is much safer.

“It’s so much safer and quicker from here, I hardly stop production” Daniel says.

 

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