Komatsu equipment doesn’t miss a beat

One hundred kilometres north of Vancouver sits one of the most significant mineral reserves in all of Canada. For more than 100 years, companies such as Lafarge North America have pulled building and energy products and precious metals from Texada Island.

Working from two pits with about 80 people, including 30 staff, Lafarge North America mines high-quality limestone, constructionand asphalt-quality aggregates from an area where gold was mined a century ago and iron was harvested until the 1970s. Since then, companies such as Lafarge have mined millions of tonnes of the products produced there today. The company also imports coal, gypsum and slag by barge to a deep-sea port on the island and, in turn, exports its products via ships to overseas customers.

“Between our aggregate and limestone plants, we’ll move about 3 million tonnes of material this year,” said General Manager Shawn Holloway. “Limestone production is by far the largest part of our operations because the quality is so good. It’s used in everything from cement and chemical plants to agriculture and medical fields. Some even goes into products such as makeup and toothpaste. Each customer has its own preference for the colour and gradation, so we sort it out during the processing.”

Processing the limestone, known as “white rock” at Texada Quarrying, involves several steps. The quarry first blasts the material to a large size, then breaks it down into smaller pieces, using equipment such as its Komatsu PC300LL excavator equipped with a breaker. Crews then load those pieces into a crusher where they go through cones of various sizes to make several final products.

“Because we’re dealing with tough conditions, we believe it is important to have a machine that can stand up to the challenge,” explained Maintenance Manager Dan Anderson. “The PC300LL is actually a forestry machine. It has the advantage of a PC300 excavator upper structure on top of a high, wide, heavy-duty, PC400-size undercarriage. It’s proven to be a good fit. We have a few thousand hours on it, and it’s been relatively maintenance-free.”

Komatsu HD785 doesn’t miss a beat

Lafarge North America’s Texada Quarrying operation worked with SMS Equipment’s Vancouver branch when it purchased the PC300LL about four years ago. Last year it added a 90-tonne HD785-7 rigid-frame haul truck to move materials on site.

“The limestone is fairly lightweight after it’s been crushed, so in order to get 90 tonnes on the HD785, we have to pile it fairly high,” said Anderson. “But whether we’re moving that or heavier materials, the payload tonnage is the same, and the truck has to handle those payloads on average about 12 hours a day. The HD785 hasn’t missed a beat.”

Anderson noted that the Texada Quarrying drivers also like the HD785. “The drivers say they notice a significant difference in terms of noise, compared to the competitive trucks on site. The Komatsu is much quieter, and they don’t feel beat up at the end of the day like they do with other brands. That’s a real bonus, on top of the high availability and production we get with the HD785.”

Holloway said he expects to get that availability and production for many years to come. “We talked with other Lafarge operations that use Komatsu trucks, and they had good things to say about them. That played a role in our purchase of the HD785. Based on what those operations told us and our projections, we’re expecting to get at least 40,000 hours out of the truck during its lifetime.”

In it for the long haul

Although Lafarge North America Texada Quarrying is already mining products from as deep as 500 feet, Holloway said the site has vast reserves with plenty of material to last well into the future.

“The demand for our products, especially limestone, remains high, and we don’t see that changing anytime soon. With our expertise and a good store of high-quality product, along with the strong partnerships we’ve built with our customers, the future looks as bright as our past and present. We’ll be here for a long time to come,” Holloway predicted.”