A granite quarry in Western Australia is putting McCloskey Crushing & Screening equipment from 888CSE through its paces and it hasn’t missed a step.

For North West Quarries, a Western Australian producer of road base and other rock products, McCloskey machinery from 888 Crushing and Screening Equipment (888CSE) has not just met the needs of the quarry operator but exceeded them.

With a main rock quarry in Port Hedland called Pippingarra, North West Quarries is part of a family-run group of companies that own and operate quarries and transport operations in WA and the Northern Territory.

From Pippingarra, North West Quarries is one of the largest suppliers of roadbase and subbase materials in the Port Hedland area and the wider Pilbara region. Working with granite, quarry manager Craig Bridgman says the hard material is challenging for machinery to process. As the company’s previous crusher began to show wear, the time came to look for a more heavy-duty upgrade.

This is when North West Quarries turned to 888CSE, which supplied a McCloskey J6 jaw crusher.

“We use the J6 as a primary crusher in our operation,” Bridgman says.

“So, we get the rock out of the pit, and then that’s the first stage of crushing. We’ll make everything down to -150mm material through that jaw. The reason we chose this particular machine was because the rock in the pit was too hard and abrasive for our previous crusher to handle, so it was starting to show signs of wearing out.”

He says the J6 jaw crusher has been a significant upgrade for the business, handling the granite with ease.

“It has a much bigger chamber, and with McCloskey being a Metso brand, they’re lot more suited to hard rock mining applications.

“We went with the McCloskey machine because of their durability and reputation. They’re tried and tested products, so we had the confidence that it was going to meet our needs for the future.”

North West Quarries says the McCloskey J6 jaw crusher has boosted production.

Having operated the J6 jaw crusher since 2023, Bridgman says the site comfortably processes around 3,000 tonnes of rock a day.

“It can easily do more than that – probably up to 500 tonnes an hour if you wanted to push it hard,” he says.

“We’ve been very happy with its performance – it’s been flawless. It’s been very reliable and definitely a big upgrade on the previous equipment that we’ve had. It’s met and exceeded all of our needs, and it’s basically transformed the operation. We’ve been able to expand our product range and expand our stock on ground to get ahead with what we’ve been able to supply the local market.”

Having such an efficient jaw chamber in a mobile machine is a big plus for the quarry’s operations, says Bridgman.

“Being a tracked machine makes it a lot more versatile,” he says.

“It makes it a lot more flexible than a fixed plant. With fixed you’re restricted to one location, and you have to feed it in a certain way all the time. With the J6 we’re able to move it between different products around the quarry and off-site if needed.”

Strength and simplicity

Accompanying the jaw crusher is a McCloskey R230 reclaimer screen and McCloskey C4 cone crusher, that North West Quarries purchased after having such a great experience with the J6.

“We’re using the R230 to feed into the McCloskey C4 cone crusher that we use to take the minus 150mm material from the jaw crusher down to -40mm product. We’ve set up the reclaimer with a two-way split and it is able to integrate with the jaw crusher, so it fits that size of machine perfectly.

“It’s been a big step up for us and the engineering that goes into the McCloskey equipment is second to none. They’re a lot more durable and heavy-duty than many of their competitors.”

The J6 crusher is being used to turn granite into roadbase and other rock products for the Pilbara region.

He says the simplicity of McCloskey machinery is a major plus with regards to keeping the machinery up and running.

“McCloskey has taken out a lot of the complications involved in running a diesel hydraulic machine,” he says.

“Other brands have more technical components and it’s harder to work on them – you have a lot more problems with downtime. With these McCloskeys, we have had very few issues with downtime.

“If we have anything that fails, it’s simple to figure out what’s wrong, and then they are basically up and running again within a few hours.”

888CSE

Bridgman says the aftersales support from 888CSE has been ‘incredible’ and says the crushing and screening specialist has been vital for the smooth running of the McCloskey machinery.

“888CSE are always on the phone if you need them and they will go out of their way to supply parts out of Perth that day when we have an urgent breakdown,” he says.

Having the backup from 888CSE has been a key reason to choose McCloskey.

With the support of 888CSE and the quality of McCloskey machinery, Bridgman says the relationship between North West Quarries and 888CSE will continue strong into the future as the business looks to expand.

“We’re a family business, so building long lasting relationships with our suppliers is our main point of difference in business,” he says.

“We’re pushing the Northern Territory side of our business a lot at the moment, with more contracting work, so having McCloskey machines that we can rely on will be essential for that. When you’re running a contracting business, it’s all about how quickly you can put the material on the ground and to make sure that you’re producing for a client.

“We enjoy working with 888CSE, so we’ll look to use them as much as possible as they continue to bring new machines into the country.”

For more information on the McCloskey range of machinery available from 888CSE, please click here.

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