Case Study | Queensland limestone quarry triples service life of hammers, reducing maintenance costs and driving productivity

Client Profile

Limestone Quarry, Queensland

Located in South-east Queensland, the team at this limestone quarry has engaged Cutting Edges to provide hammers for the past 18 years, as well as ground engaging tools (G.E.T), crusher parts and wear plates.

With the organisation being a global leader in the supply of lime and limestone products, this quarry is a key asset within their Australian operations.

“The cost of Cutting Edges’ hammers is comparable to their other existing suppliers, but delivers three times the productivity.”

– Sam Mule – Cutting Edges’ Manager Operations & Business Development ‑ East

Overview

In 2019, after a productivity and wear parts audit of all quarry sites and hammer mills, this mining organisation’s Chief Engineer found that the Queensland quarry was reporting significantly longer wear rates of hammers than their other quarries.

Further investigation revealed that the quarry was using Cutting Edges’ heavy-duty hammers, which are constructed by using a unique casting process and an optimal manganese composition.

As a result, they were seeing triple the service life from their hammers, leading to significant savings in product and maintenance costs, as well as increased productivity from reduced servicing and downtime.

Problem

The cost of replacing hammers and other wear parts is significant for quarries, especially those working with highly abrasive materials such as limestone.

Replacement parts costs, changeout labour costs and the lost productivity due to machinery downtime during maintenance quickly adds up.

The mining organisation’s Chief Engineer had identified there were potential cost savings and productivity improvements in the hammers at all of their 17 sites.

The problem to be solved was how to best identify the issues and implement solutions based on what had been achieved at the Queensland quarry. They did not have the expertise and capability to solve this problem by themselves and were keen to implement a solution rapidly and consistently across all of their operations.

Solution

Using Cutting Edges’ heavy-duty hammers, the Queensland quarry reported three times the service life of other hammer mill locations. Instead of requiring changeouts three times a year, which was the standard at many of this mining organisation’s quarries, the Queensland quarry hammers only required replacement once a year.

The mining organisation has since engaged Cutting Edges to help them take the learnings from the successful Queensland quarry hammer mill operations to rapidly and consistently improve hammer performance across all of their Australian sites. By working with Cutting Edges, they were able to eliminate the need for every site to run their own trials, which would have resulted in a longer implementation period and greater cost.

With Cutting Edges’ expertise and manufacturing capabilities, improved hammer performance can now be realised almost immediately across all sites. Furthermore, the cost of purchasing Cutting Edges’ hammers is comparable to other existing hammer suppliers, however they deliver three times the productivity. By extending productivity, the Queensland quarry’s estimated savings are $4,000 per annum on changeout labour and approximately $3,100 per annum on replacement parts.

Implemented across all 17 Australian and New Zealand locations this comes to a saving of $65,000 to $100,000 per annum in product and labour costs.

Benefits:

• Extended service life and productivity: replacement once per annum compared to an average of three times per annum at other quarry locations
• Changeout labour cost savings of $4,000 per annum
• Parts cost savings of $3,100 per annum
• Learning and improvement applied rapidly and consistently across all sites
• Elimination of multiple trials
• Immediate cost and performance improvements
• An estimated total savings of $65,000 to $100,000 per annum by using Cutting Edges’ hammers across all 17 Australian and New Zealand sites

Cutting Edges’ heavy-duty hammers consist of a unique combination of materials, including an optimal manganese composition. This composition is specifically designed to deliver extended wear life in abrasive, high-impact conditions. In fact, the harder the hammer works, the longer it lasts.