Capricorn Sandstone Quarries Pty Ltd is one of the largest suppliers of Australiandimension sandstone to the Commercial, Export, Retaining, Residential & Restoration markets nationally and internationally. They are a family owned business with decades of experience in quarrying and manufacturing of Australian sandstone.Capricorn Sandstone Quarries prides itself on supplying the highest quality stone, being flexible and responsive to the market and customers, and investing in machinery and staff to ensure maximum output while maintaining very high standards of Health and Safety. This has resulted in the Company growing steadilyand continuously while still keeping its streamlined structure. A policy of zero waste and product innovation ensures the Company will remain dynamic and responsive to national and international trends.
The quarry reserve is one of the largest and oldest in Australia. It is also unique in that it offers a variety of distinct colors. The Stanwell reserve holds millions of cubic meters of dimension stone and is expected to be operating well into the next century. The quarry extracts thousands of blocks each year to meet demand, and all material is processed within 1km of where its quarried, at the same location in Stanwell, Queensland,
saving many tons of carbon emissions by not transporting unprocessed material away from the quarry.
Modern, high production equipment is employed in the quarry and factory to ensure that stone is processed efficiently, and operator wellbeing is paramount. Quarry machinery is serviced on-site for minimum downtime, and all equipment is maintained to high standards for minimum noise, maximum comfort and dust levels well under acceptable limits.
The factory is fitted with modern, mostly European stone processing machines, all of which comply with the highest standards of health and safety. A range of specializedlifting and handling gear ensures that all stone is packed with minimal damage and operator effort.
The need
It is with these premises that Capricorn Sandstone Quarries approaches MEC. It starts immediately with dialogue and a continuous exchange of information, questions, answers, suggestions, that lead to the identification of two distinct and complementary splitting lines for the products that Capricorn wishes to create: from completely sawn sandstone blocks to be split automatically for production of construction stones, to the blocks with natural quarry layer that are not perfectly straight, and after their splitting on a primary machine need further processing on a manual line.
MEC, therefore, offers two splitting lines: the primary line, automatic with an H-frame machine with four blades. The machine has a splitting width of 1200 mm by a height of 600 mm, with side blades to accomplish the splitting around the entire perimeter of the block and ensure products with an excellent profile. The extraction hoods for dust collection that the system is equipped with, follow the company’s health and safety policy. The manual system, on the other hand, consists of a loading hopper conveyor, where the operator can unload the stones directly from the bucket, and a semi-Trittico system, i.e. the combined use of a powered and tilting conveyor and a C series machine, with a splitting height of 450 mm.
The result:
The advantage is the absence of physical effort for the operator who does not have to push the material on the working table of the machine because the stones get directly there under the blade thanks to the conveyor. This type of plant also fully responds to the attention that Capricorn Sandstone Quarries reserves for its operators. Capricorn Sandstone Quarries appreciated the continuous dialogue with MEC even during the production of the machinery: this allowed us to be aligned on every detail, from the correct arrangement of the machinery inside the sheds to the preparation of all the material and equipment before the delivery of the machines.
Even our service for the installation and commissioning of the systems with the necessary training in use and maintenance for operators has been positively evaluated by the customer.
The physical distances between MEC and Capricorn Sandstone Quarries have not in the least affected the success of this project: we are happy that our customer’s satisfaction has come so strong even on the other side of the world.