I would just like to thank Gough’s Management Team and a special thanks to Ardie Rankin for putting together a great itinerary on the Australian Trip for Kim and myself.
Melbourne CAT Factory
First stop was Melbourne and out to the CAT factory where graders are made. They also make digger, loader buckets and truck bodies in the factory.
Steve Cousland, Senior Industry Specialist Cement and Aggregates Asia Pacific Division, took us around.
We went around the parts distribution centre which was a huge building. CAT have a new training center building for mechanic apprentices and their trade people can learn new technician changes on engines and transmission.
That night, Steve and his good wife Sandra took us out for dinner to a nice seafood place out in Williamstown which looks back at Melbourne.
William Adams CAT dealer
The next day was out to William Adams, the CAT dealer of Victoria and Tasmania. It was good to catch up with Hamish Johnston and Zac Reark who showed me around their workshop, yard and office. I then jumped into a car with Andy McCall who is their product support representative and went to Pioneer Waste Landfill where Chris McTosh showed me around. The landfill is in an old sand pit. It takes around 600,000 tonnes per annum and has a life of approximately 20 years.
Borali Montrose Quarry
Next stop was Borali Montrose Quarry, which is their largest quarry in the Melbourne area. At the site Ross Outen inducted me in. He is in charge of all their quarries in the Melbourne area. They have a CAT 990 loader working from the face which loaded two CAT 775 dumpers feeding the crushing plant. Plant crushes well over the 1,500,000 tonnes per annum producing roadbase, chip for asphalt plant and concrete aggregate.
Boral Bandenona Quarry
Next site was around Rowville about 20km away, it was Borals Bandenona Quarry which has a CAT 988F loading one Komatsu dumper feeding a crushing plant which produced railway ballast road base material and concrete aggregate (around 600,000 tonnes per annum.) Pioneer had a large quarry the size of Montrose right along side them, which we didn’t go in because we were running out of time.
Thanks William Adams for letting Andy McCall show me around and not forgetting Ross Outen from Borals.
CAT Brisbane / CSR Petrie Quarry
Next day we jumped on a plane and flew to Brisbane. I caught up with Andrew Moire their sales representative from Hastings Deering, the local CAT dealer for Queensland. Andrew took me to CSR Petrie Quarry where Robert Brett showed me around. The quarry sells around 750,000 tonnes per annum but has been well over the million tones on good years. Again they have a CAT 990 loader at the face loading two CAT 769 dumpers which feed the crushing plant. Plant produces roading base material, asphalt products and concrete aggregate.
Back into the car and we shot back to Hasting Deering yard. It was amazing, the office, workshop and yard was just out of this world. I was looking at four D11 dozers, untold loaders and diggers, gear being put together, older gear being rebuilt, all in this old American airbase from the Second World War.
Pioneer Waterford Quarry
I left Andrew there and got in a car with Stewart Eldridge who is the product support representative. We went south to Beenleigh where Pioneer Waterford Quarry is, which is the largest quarry in Queensland. They have a CAT 5130 face shovel loading two CAT 777 dumpers which feeds the crushing plant, it crushes up around 7,000 tonnes a day. They have three CAT 980G loaders and one 500 Komatsu loading from the stockpile area. It was good to see a Kiwi operating the crushing plant, seems to be a few in the quarries over there. That was the end of the day and Stewart dropped me back into Brisbane.
Thank you Stewart Eldridge and Andrew Moire for a great day out, and to Hasting Deering management for giving them time to show me around.
Nucrush – Oxenford Quarry & sand operations
Next day we jumped onto a train at Brisbane and headed south to Coomera where Bill Bond, our Kiwi connection in Aussie, was waiting.
Bill looks after Quarries division of Nucrush. We went to Oxenford Quarry. There I caught up with the owner Bruce Neumann (photographed here at the Auckland 2001 Conference) and, with Bill went around the quarry site.
They have an EX100 Hitachi digger loading two 40 tonne Aveling Barford dumpers. Crushing plant produces a gabion rock for canal work down around the Hope Island and Sanctuary Cove. Rest of the plant produces sealing chip and concrete aggregate.
We went to the sand pit plant around Oxenford Town and Coomera River then back to the quarry.
Again I would like to thank Bruce Neumann for allowing Bill to show me around and having a most enjoyable day.
One thing I did notice on my site visit to the quarries was that Aussie has a real problem with houses building right onto quarry boundaries causing complaints with noise, visual, ground vibration, dust and truck movements.
They do not have an overburden problem getting to the good rock like in New Zealand, and they seem to have large deposits of rock everywhere but the housing problem is causing them hassles.
I would again like to thank Gough Gough and Hamer for giving me the opportunity to see how Australians crush rock.
Regards,
Warwick Leach