NORD _ Mining project

Project Challenge

Durance Granulats, a EUROVIA group subsidiary, operates a quarry in Gardanne in the South of France, where basic components for building materials are obtained and processed. Seeking to increase this site‘s production capacity, the company turned to SMIL, a metal construction specialist, to commission the design and complete installation of an aggregate processing plant comprising 25 new belt conveyors. The previous, now-obsolete plant was partly demolished and completely retrofi tted in the process.

Exploit more sources. – One key goal for the new installation was to enhance capacities to enable the exploitation of three different sources of material, rather than just one as before. After the completion of the project, sand, gravel, crushed stone, and run-of-mine materials can now be obtained in the quarry itself as well as from a second site 30 km away. These products are primarily used for sub-base and base layers in road construction. The third source is a recycling facility, where materials are recovered from the rubble of public construction projects. SMIL‘s new conveyor system provides links between the point of arrival of the raw materials, the processing machinery, and the point where products leave the quarry.

Long-life design. – SMIL‘s belt conveyors required drive solutions that would not only enable safe operation from the start, but ensure reliable performance in the longer run as well. Still, if any motor failures should occur, the drive system had to allow for flexible replacements.