DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PROCESSES AND/OR PRODUCTION METHODS AND/OR PROCESS FLOW CHART FOR ROCK/AGGREGATE CRUSHER PLANT Few

deposits can be used as dug as aggregate. Processing provides scope for adjusting the grain-size distribution of the as-dug material to match market requirements for the final saleable product. Processing involves a series of crushing and screening stages designed to produce material with a specified range of sizes. n a hard rock quarr! the primar! crusher first roughl! crushes material" secondar! crushers then reduce the aggregate size and tertiar! crushers produce the final size and shape of aggregate products. #rushed materials are sized b! passing over various screens and$or classifiers. %ithin a sand and gravel quarr! the process is simpler involving washing and sizing& and crushing oversized gravel material. 'r! aggregates are sometimes washed to remove fine particles adhering to the surfaces of the aggregates. (he water used is commonl! rec!cled via setting ponds or lagoons where the heavier particles will sink if the water is allowed to stand. (he sized materials are then stockpiled being sold for their end use. )tockpiling of materials& which involves moving the processed aggregates to storage within the site& requires double handling of material and therefore represents a significant cost to the mineral operator. Plant *ggregate processing plant comprises equipment for significant areas of land which must be included in the planning consent. *ggregates are sold b! weight& therefore processing plants commonl! incorporate weigh-hoppers for proportioning and blending materials to meet specifications& and weighb i!ge" to weigh loaded vehicles. Ha ! #$% &'a ie" +lasted material within a hard rock quarr! must be crushed several times before it is at a size that is suitable for use b! industr!. )everal stages of crushing and screening of mineral are emplo!ed to produce the final aggregate product. P i(a ) $ '"hing #rushing ,the act of breaking a large rock into smaller pieces- is the most energ! intensive part of aggregate processing and is often e.pensive& requiring care in the selection of crushing equipment.

(he final aggregate product should have the particle size distribution suitable for the desired market. #rushing starts with primar! crushing" usuall! using jaw& g!rator!& roller or impactor-t!pe crushers depending on the characteristics of the rock. /aw and g!rator! crushers can both handle hard& abrasive rocks& whilst impactors are restricted to non-siliceous rocks e.g. li(e"t#ne"& although the! can handle high throughputs ,up to 0111 tonnes per hour- and lump sizes in e.cess of 0 m. 2oller crushers are rarel! installed in new quarries but ma! still be found in some of the older limestone quarries 3aterial is loaded into the primar! crusher b! dump trucks& and the crushed material is then transported to the processing plant b! conve!or. S$al*ing "$ een )calping screens are used to allow rock fragments and fines that do not require crushing to b!pass further crushing stages. 3ost quarries will install a scalping screen after the primar! crusher. 3aterial is passed over a vibrating mesh that allows particles less than 41 mm in diameter to pass through. (his material b!passes the remaining crusher stages and is fed directl! to the sizing screens. n 5dirt!5 quarries& where cla! is present within the deposit& a scalping screen is often used to remove e.cessive amounts of cla! before the mineral is fed into the primar! crusher. 6owever the material removed at this stage will usuall! still contain some useable rock and is therefore washed to recover the ma.imum amount of mineral before being fed into the sizing screens.

Se$#n!a ) $ '"he " (he secondar! crusher breaks rock fragments down into sizes that are suitable for the market. * variet! of crushers can be used depending on the rock t!pe. 6orizontal shaft impactors break the rock on impact with a blade on a rotating barrel. 3aterial bounces round within the crushing chamber until it is small enough to escape. (he size of the final product can be adjusted b! adjusting the gap between the rotor blades and breaker bars attached to the chamber edge. 2ock on metal impact is suitable for use with soft rocks& such as limestones& however high wear rate on the rotor tips makes this method unsuitable for abrasive igneous rocks. 7ertical shaft impactors depend on rock on rock impact to break fragments and can be used on all e.cept the hardest of rock t!pes. %hile impact crushers have the advantage of giving the cubical shape that is required for the concrete industr!& the! can produce large quantities of +ine"& up to 819 of output in some instances& resulting in e.cessive waste. (he cone crusher is favoured in igneous rock quarries. 3aterial is fed into the top of the cone and moves along the gap between the cone and the fi.ed outer wall. *s the cone is rotated on an off-centre a.is the size of the gap gets bigger and smaller& resulting in the crushing action. )izes from :1 mm down can be created and the size range can be adjusted b! adjusting the height of the cone within the concaves. 6owever& the requirement for smaller final products will result in the production of greater quantities of fines. t is normal in some hard rock quarries to crush the rock a third time before sizing ,tertiar! crushing-. ;ach stage of crushing ,primar! and secondar!- can be e.pected to reduce the size of the material feeding through it b! between <19 and =19. (his reduction ratio can be increased b! demanding more of each crusher& however this increases the quantit! of fines produced& decreases the throughput and increases the power requirements and costs of crushing. (ertiar! crushing is therefore used to produce the final aggregate size and shape. Si,ing )izing screens use vibrating meshes with specific size apertures to separate oversize material from undersize material. %ater is often added to fine material to allow different grain sized materials to be separated down to 1.: mm. >p to three decks are used in each screen to produce several size fractions in a single operation. * cascade of screens ma! be used in series so that material that is too coarse for one set of decks is passed onto the ne.t screen allowing a great variet! of different sized materials to be sorted. 3aterials that are too big to fit through an! of these screens are passed back into the tertiar! crusher and ma! be c!cled between the sizing screens and the crusher a number of times.

Cla""i+i$ati#n For sizing material less that 1.: mm in diameter& the process of classification is used. #lassification uses centrifugal force to separate materials of different mass. * mi.ture of material and water is rotated in a cone" while larger particles are gathered in the centre of the cone& small or low-densit! particles are thrown out to the sides and removed from the top. (his allows marketable sand to be separated from silt and cla! waste. St# age Finished aggregate products are stored in ground level stockpiles and ba!s or in elevated silos and bins. )tockpiles ma! require a large area of land depending on the size of the operation. )ome storage ba!s have feeders installed below ground allowing material to be rapidl! reclaimed b! conve!or. Fine aggregates will have been processed through the classifier as a suspension in water and will therefore have to be dewatered before sale. Free drainage of water from heaps of aggregate is a common feature of quarries& especiall! those handling sand and gravel. (he cost is low if sufficient space is available& but disadvantages include the visual impact and potential for contamination from windborne distribution of dust. -al'e.a!!e! * #!'$t" *ggregate is a high volume& low value material. t is therefore common in larger quarries for the operator to add value to a portion of his production b! installing an asphalt plant or read! mi. concrete plant. ?uarries ma! also be suitable locations for cement works& block making plants& lime kilns or for the production of industrial powders such as fillers in paint& paper& plastics or animal feed. @ver time the quarr! ma! develop several industries that are visuall! contained within the quarr! walls& with a positive impact on local emplo!ment and econom!. ;quipment required for 2ock #rusher Plant 0. 8 units A 'umptruck 4. 0 unit A Pa!loader B. 0 unit A +ackhoe 3anpower required for 2ock #rusher Plant 0. 4. B. 8. :. <. C. =. 0 A Plant @perator 0 A Pa!loader @perator 0- +ackhoe @perator 'rivers 0- Fuel (ender 0- 3echanic 0- 6elper$3echanic B- )killed Daborer