A Quarry in Australia had a lot of overburden to process that contained over 50% recoverable rocks. Their goal was to grade these materials into five different products.

The overburden at the customer's site had been accumulating for years, occupying a significant portion of the quarry space. Additionally, the piles contained a considerable amount of rock that could be sold as aggregates.

The Challenge:

The challenge was that the aggregate was mixed with clay and too large and sticky to be processed with their screeners. Some of the rocks in the overburden pile were as big as 750mm (30”), which was too large for their existing equipment. The customer wanted to separate the material into fractions of 0-20mm (0-0.75”), 20-50mm (0.75-2”), 50-150mm (2-6”), 150-300mm (6-12”), and oversize up to 750mm (30”).

The M515 Heavy Duty Trommel Solution:

The MDS M515 trommel was the perfect primary processing solution, as it could handle large, heavy loads of up to 20 tonnes in its 12.6 cubic metre hopper. Its hydraulic push feeder mechanism allowed it to manage these substantial loads, which often contained large stones, taking on all the initial heavy work. The rotating drum mechanism cleaned and screened the material by agitating and breaking up clay and impurities from the rocks. As the rocks tumbled inside the drum, they collided with each other and the drum walls, resulting in superior cleaning.

The accompanying screener was then positioned on the fines conveyor to receive all the material smaller than 150mm. Thanks to the MDS unit, the material was already broken up, and the remaining clay was easy to process on the screener without blocking the screens.