In the mining and quarrying indus try, the need to process rock quicker and faster is always growing.
To service this ever growing need, Precision Screening has imported the first of Sandvik’s latest QE440 scalpers.
Launched globally in June and arriving in Australia this month, the QE440 has been designed to process nearly double the amount of its pre decessor, the QE340.
Speaking to , Precision’s Queensland manager Aidan McGarrity said that this new scalper is expected to have a huge effect on the mining and quarrying industries.
In particular, it will be “good for start up mines, as it will be able to over come the initial problems of overbur den that many face,”McGarrity said.
According to Sandvik, the QE440 can process up to 900 tonnes per hour and comes with a 40% increase in screening area from the QE340.
“This is really moving into a new area, with a six foot wide screen box it has really upped the capacity and processing capability of the machine,” McGarrity added.
The QE440 is designed for a number of applications, ranging from the screening of heavy overburden at the quarry or rock face, pre-screen ing and scalping of a range of mate rials, the recycling of construction and landfill wastes, and the separa tion of cohesive aggregates.
“This scalper is very versatile and can take large sized rocks through to fine materials like top soils.”
It provides a total scalping area of 5.5 m by 1.75 m /5 m by 1.75 m for a greater rate of production.
Capable of being feed by large crushers, the scalper is still able to produce accurate aggregate and can also recycle mixed materials.
It comes with a versatile screen box, which “can be fitted with a number of different screen media, from punch plates to finger screens and piano wires for processing different materials,” McGarrity told .
The hopper itself has a capacity of 8.5m3, with the overall length of the scalper coming in at just over 16m, with a width of 14m.
Despite the size of the QE440, it can be easily transported and then set up within 30 minutes of arriving on site, and can then be driven around the site via remote control at speeds of just under 1km per hour on tracks 3.3m wide, according to McGarrity.
“Being fully tracked, the QE440 is very mobile and is also very fuel efficient, using about 16 to 18 litres per hour,” he said.
It is powered by a 91kW diesel engine and hydraulic motors.
Following the importation of the first QE440 in August, Precision expects to have another three within the country by the end of the year.