JRC reaches their goal to improve reliability at Pedreira de Salamanga cement plant in Mozambique

Located in Salamanga, 90 km from Maputo, Mozambique, JRC is a contractor outsourced by a Brazilian private equity Intercement company, Cimentos de Moçambique, one of the biggest cement producers, with operations in more than eight countries in South America, Africa and Europe.  

The Salamanga Quarry operation, which went into production in 1955, supplies all the limestone for Cimentos de Moçambique. The old primary crushing stage, located in the factory in Matola, had several major problems that were causing interruptions in uptime. 

They also faced another challenge. The operating model was designed to transport 0/600mm rocks by train from the quarry to the cement plant. This resulted in high operating and transport costs, as well as high potential for safety risks.  

“Loading the 600mm into the train caused a lot of unused space between the rocks; this not only prevented JRC from loading the tons to the maximum capacity, it also increased the safety risk due to the size of the rocks,” says Paulo Seiça Leitao, Metso Sales Manager. 

When Metso was called in 2012 to consult on the equipment, they also recommended a new model for operations: do the crushing first in the quarry and then transport the smaller sized rocks to the cement plant. 

From planning to action

Once the signature was in place, Metso pulled out all stops to get the project going. It took only four months for the equipment to arrive from Portugal to Mozambique. Plant assembly began at the beginning of January 2015, with full commissioning completed in record time of just over two months. Start-up took place on March 9, 2015. 

Metso installed a new crushing plant with its state-of-the-art equipment, including an apron feeder, a scalping screen VG645–3V™, an Impact crusher Nordberg® NP1415™ and a screen Compact CVB 2050–1P™.

Customer feedback has been highly positive, and with Metso’s support they continue to achieve their production targets with improved reliability and reduced commercial risks.

“The new crushing plant with Metso equipment has enabled us to increase our production output and reduce our operating costs. This can be attributed to increased reliability of the operation and automation, which now has a constant feed. In addition to this, we have also seen significant improvements in the plant’s environmental impacts,” says Marisa Conceição, JRC General Manager.

Environment and safety a key factor in the upgrade 

Relocating the JRC crushing system from the plant to the quarry was successful also from the point of view of the environment, as it reduced the mineral processing dust and noise in the areas around the cement plant. 

“This was one of the great added benefits that Metso provided. Moving the crushing system from the plant to the quarry lowered the risk of pollution, noise and dust. This sustainable environmental solution will help us to obtain and ensure compliance with our environmental permit and will drive JRC to be at the forefront of transformation in the cement industry,” notes Marisa Conceição.  

The crushing plant that Metso installed was equipped with several devices to minimize pollutant emissions and environmental impacts, mainly dust.  Additionally, the plant was designed with key safety control features, and as well as future smart devices to help separate the workers from the machines during operation. 

The new crushing plant with Metso’s equipment was developed to reduce the rock size from 0/600mm to 0/60mm. “Crushing the rocks from 600mm to 60mm reduced the safety risks and increased the cement plant’s feed reliability and production for Cimentos da Matola,” explains Paulo.

Delivering results 

Metso’s knowledge to carry out the design, manufacture and installation of the crushing plant for this specific application and working with this type of limestone was extensive.  

“The customer is very satisfied because we delivered on our promise. We met an output of 600t/h. The customer’s production output is now averaging 650t/h, and therefore yielding a lower cost per ton,” concludes Paulo.  

Metso has established a strong relationship with JRC and has also supplied them with another plant to crush hard rock at a construction aggregates facility in Moamba, Mozambique. The customer rates Metso as knowledgeable, accurate, honest, friendly and a world-class company. 

The bottom line is that JRC is now able to increase the quarry’s production capacity to about 1 million metric tons annually, maximizing throughput. 

About Intercement 

Intercement is one of the biggest cement producers, with operations in more than eight countries in South America, Africa and Europe. It has 40 cement factories and mills with an installed capacity of more than 47 million tons/year. 

The company has been ranked as the market leader in cement in Mozambique and Argentina, and second in the Brazilian and Paraguayan markets.

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* (The capacities are maximum capacities in a continuous troublefree operation when feed material quality and grading curve corresponds to the theoretical curve used in this calculation. Long term capacities will fluctuate due to the variations in the feed and operating intensity of the plant. Metso does not guarantee any of the calculation results without our separate written approval based on a detailed study of the case.)