The "Ridges Iron Ore Project"

The world's largest iron ore deposits are to be found in Australia. Thanks to the mobile combination of plants from KLEEMANN, up to 600 tons of iron ore are processed per hour in the "Ridges Iron Ore Project" in the Kimberley region.

The Ridges Iron Ore Project: more than 67 million tons of iron ore remain untapped in this mine in Western Australia. In response to the rising demand of steel worldwide, it is now being mined at full steam. Since the mine was opened in July 2011, the Kimberley Metals Group (KMG) has extracted up to 1.5 million tons of iron ore per year here. The subcontractor SJ Crushing was hired to process the material for the Australian ore producer.

The mine is located in the Kimberley Region in Western Australia and covers an area of 0.6 km²

The complete plant consists of 4 Kleemann machines connected in series. 1 x jaw crusher MC 125 Z and 3 x cone crushers MCO 13 S

Mark Engelhardt, electrician with mining contractor SJ Crushing, is responsible for regular maintenance of the machines.

A wheel loader transfers the stockpiled iron ore to the MOBICAT MC 125 Z

The MOBICAT MC 125 Z is a primary crushing unit. It reduces the iron ore into an intermediate product which measures no more than 160 mm.

The MCO 13 S mobile cone crushers connected in series reduce the precrushed iron ore into a final product which measures no more than 10 mm.

Up to 13,000 tons of iron ore are extracted per day and are transferred to road trains.

Wheel loaders transfer the processed iron ore to road trains which then transport the ore to the port in Wyndham, 165 kilometres away.

Due to 22 hours of production per day, the wheel loaders also have to transfer by night.

At night the plants are illuminated by lightspots to ensure continuous surveillance.

Success through mobility and optimized processes

The machines from Kleemann made it possible very quickly to achieve a stable production of 500 tons an hour. In close collaboration with Kleemann experts in Germany, SJ Crushing tailored a solution specifically for the Ridges Iron Ore Project. Together, they decided to employ a mobile jaw crusher of the type MOBICAT MC 125 Z and three cone crushers of type MOBICONE MCO 13 S. The advantage of this solution is that, if the requirements or local conditions change, all units can be relocated without difficulty - a factor of decisive importance in a project such as the Ridges Iron Ore.

"We remained in close contact with Wirtgen Australia and Kleemann and worked together as a team. This assured the project's success within a very short space of time."

Neil Fitzpatrick, Project Manager, SJ Crushing

Reliable and comprehensive service from the beginning

For over one year now, the Kleemann plants have been running almost round-the-clock in two shifts. Even after production started, the Wirtgen Group provided continuous service including technical support as well as regular training to ensure that production would continue to run smoothly in the future. According to Neil Fitzpatrick, reliable after-sales service was the deciding factor for awarding the contract to Kleemann.

Place
Kimberley Region, Australia
Mined material
Mined material
Kimberley Region, Australia
Iron ore
Final grain size
Final grain size
Kimberley Region, Australia
0 - 9.5 mm
Daily conveying capacity
Daily conveying capacity
Kimberley Region, Australia
up to 13,000 t
Production time
Production time
Kimberley Region, Australia
22 h / day, 7 days / week
Company
Company
Kimberley Region, Australia
SJ Crushing