Santa Catarina’s Balbinot Group, in business in the earthmoving and paving market since 2005, established a new commercial quarry in Concordia (SC) to diversify its activities. Operating since July of this year and with a capacity to deliver around 50 thousand tons per month, Britax processes basalt and has a wide range of products, including gravels 2, 1, crusher run, cracked rock, stone dust, manufactured gravel sand and graded stone.
To get the project off the drawing board, the unit's operational director, Lorivaldo dos Santos, bet on a plant whose process was focused on the quality of aggregates. To achieve this, he relied on Metso's equipment and process technologies, including a Nordberg® C106™ jaw crusher, two secondary cone crushers (HP300 and HP3 models) and three vibrating screens – all controlled by an electronic system for automation and monitoring of the plant’s equipment.
Of all the equipment listed, Lorivaldo dos Santos says that the HP3 is the "heart" of Britax. The recrusher enabled an increase in the quality of the aggregates in the final stage of the crushing process, improving their cubicity. “All of our production passes through a final stage of crushing in the HP3, resulting in a round-shaped stone, a cubicity that especially meets the demands and needs of the concrete market,” explains the company’s operational director. He believes that the final products with an above-average shape/cubicity is what helped Britax to win over the market of concrete and paving companies.
The high level of product quality – a kind of "state-of-the-art" in crushing – can be observed in the low percentage of ultrafine materials that end customers do not want. In the case of industrial sand, also referred to as manufactured sand, ultrafines account for only 7.2% versus the higher average found in the local market.
"I chose Metso as our partner because I have known the company for almost 30 years and I know the quality of their equipment,” said dos Santos, noting that Metso also offers a very high level of technical assistance. “The Britax plant has brought the most modern equipment available to Concordia. We have even received visits from people interested in learning about our production process,” he concludes.
