Gulf Construction Online - Metso helps meet demand for gabbro

Quarrying

Metso Minerals' Nordberg C125 jaw crusher at work in Fujairah.

Metso helps meet demand for gabbro

01 June 2003

Quarry operator Gibca Crushing continues to rely on Metso Mineral crushing equipment to meet the increasing demand for highly abrasive and dense gabbro rock in the UAE.

The demand for gabbro - considered to be the region's toughest rock - is on the rise as contractors seek quality aggregates from local quarries, particularly for asphalt and concrete production.

Gibca Crushing at Kadrah, some 25 km north east of Dhaid, received its first licence to recover gabbro from the local municipality 25 years ago in a riverbed retrieval application of the wadi over a 2 sq km area.

As the riverbed source dried out and demand for gabbro increased, Gibca opened the first of two quarries some three years ago.

With the continuing demand for increased production a second quarry, approximately 1 km from the crushing plant, was opened in 2001.

Metso Minerals' Nordberg C125 jaw crusher is playing a pivotal role at Gibca Crushing, which has three production lines.

Featuring a 450 tonnes/hr capacity, the C125 accepts gabbro boulders up to 1.2 m by 0.9 m to provide an output of six to seven-inch rock - with a density of 2.85 kg/cu m.

Rock is then fed to a Metso Minerals secondary operation to provide an output of two to three inches.

In a second line, Gibca Crushing is also relying on a Metso Minerals cone crusher. Working 20 hours daily, with two shifts over six days a week, the quarry is producing 150,000 cu m/month of aggregates and rocks for construction applications throughout the Emirates.

According to quarry manager, Gulam Mohammed, the Metso Minerals equipment is very good, providing exceptional service in difficult conditions.

"The secret is," he adds, "we take very good care of our equipment, maintaining it correctly and regularly."

Additional after-sales back-up is also provided by the local dealer, Dynatrade.

Metso Minerals, part of Metso Corporation, is a global market leader in the rock and minerals processing industry. The company focuses on the supply and service of processes and related equipment. Metso Minerals has sales and service units, dealers and distributors in 150 countries, and more than 40 production units worldwide.

In September 2001, Metso Corporation purchased Svedala Industri AB, a global supplier of products for rock and minerals.

The new Metso Minerals consists of the previous Nordberg and Svedala operations. The names Svedala, Nordberg, Trellex, Lindemann, Reedrill and Dynapac will continue as trademarks of Metso Minerals.

Metso Corporation is a global supplier of process industry machinery and systems. Metso's core businesses are divided between Metso Paper (fibre and paper technology), Metso Minerals (rock and mineral processing) and Metso Automation (automation and control technology).