Tight margins are forcing quarry operators to work smarter, and that includes getting the most out of their machines. PMV visits Industrial Quarry and Cement (IQC), along with Caterpillar quarry product specialist Peter Sauter
Based in a dusty valley in Fujairah, UAE, Industrial Quarry and Cement (IQC) produces around 9,000 tonnes per day of limestone aggregate a day, amounting to 3 million tonnes per year, plus road base materials, most of it destined for the local market in the UAE.
The company has been in operation for eight years, and in that time has produced more than 24.5 million tonnes of sellable material, plus 20% of road base not counted in the final production record.
It carries out blasting six-to-eight times per month, using the company's own drills and engineers. One blast will take out 30 cubic metres of material, around 70,000 tonnes. The quarry has one jaw and two impact crushers, and runs two shifts per day – 16 to 18 hours of work. In a single day the quarry can load up to 18,000 tonnes on to trucks, drawing on its stockpile. A single wheel loader can load 5,000 tonnes onto trucks.
The market for aggregates in the UAE has improved slightly over the past two years, says general manager Eng. Jamal Hilles. The price of limestone aggregates has risen from around 10.5-11 dirham per tonne to 12.5 dirham per tonne, says Hilles. Before the crisis in the UAE, the cost of aggregate was as much as 21 dirhams. At the market bottom, the price dropped below ten dirhams.
The value of raw materials is always a good indicator of the underlying strength of the construction market, and machinery sellers spoken to by PMV say that last year was one of the strongest for quarry buying. The price of raw materials rose in anticipation of scheduled work in Qatar for the FIFA World Cup in 2022 as well as new projects in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Nevertheless, with margins remaining tight, the emphasis is on machinery that can go the distance.
