Displaying items by tag: Sand

UK: Cemex UK has invested in a new Canning Conveyor conveyor system at its Swinderby sand and gravel quarry in Lincolnshire. The 1.6km-long system will convey extracted materials to a new processing plant. The new plant will double the quarry’s aggregates production capacity. The system includes a 20t hopper feeder and a radial stockpile, also supplied by Canning Conveyor. The company producer says that the new equipment will cut 50% of the operations’ CO2 emissions by eliminating diesel-powered dumpster use and saving 300,000l/yr of fuel, in line with Cemex’s Future in Action sustainability programme. It will also reduce dust and noise at the quarry. The investment is due for completion in early 2023.

UK: Breedon Group has acquired marine aggregates producer Severn Sands. With sales revenues of Euro10.5m in 2021, Severn Sands holds multiple dredging licences for operations in the Bristol Channel.

Breedon Group said that the acquisition ‘enhances our operational capability, secures scarce mineral reserves and resources, and ensures our downstream operations in the Gloucestershire and South Wales region are fully vertically integrated.’

UK: Innovative Ash Solutions has received a Euro588m Scottish government grant to establish a 20,000t/yr ash processing plant in South Lanarkshire. The Herald newpaper has reported that the plant will process boiler ash, cyclone ash and incineration fly ash for use in local cement production. When commissioned in 2022, the plant will eliminate 6104t/yr of CO₂ emissions, according to the operator. The government granted the funding under its Zero Waste Scotland circular economic investment scheme.

The company said “Using this new patented process, which diverts waste materials from landfill and avoids the use of virgin sand, creates a product which is cheaper and will reduce the environmental impact of cement production compared to the use of imported pulverised fuel ash.”

Innovative Ash Solutions is a joint venture of waste management company Levenseat and consultancy Organic Innovative Solutions.

Australia: AdBri and Barro Group have signed an agreement to acquire Metro Quarry Group’s sand operations. The business consists oftwo quarries, the Lang Lang quarry and the Nyora quarry, in Victoria. The quarries command a total of 50Mt of sand reserves. AdBri will pay US$21.6m to the companies’ joint venture for the purpose of the acquisition and to supplement the business’ working capital. The partners expect to conclude the deal in November 2021.

UK: Hanson has delivered 171,000t of cement to the site of the upcoming Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in Somerset. It has also delivered 1Mm³ of ready-mix concrete via the customer’s on-site batching plants, 5Mt of aggregates and 443,000t of sand. Its Port Talbot site in Neath Port Talbot has supplied 230,000t of Regen ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) for use in concrete production, reducing the product’s carbon footprint by a total of 200,000t compared with concrete produced using ordinary Portland cement (OPC) only.

Dominican Republic: Germany-based BHS-Sonthofen has supplied an RPM 1513 rotor impact mill to building materials producer Calizamar. The mill consists of a vertical shaft and will produce crushed sand of a consistent fineness and cubic particle shape. Calizamar produces and sells aggregates, natural stone, pre-cast concrete and paper bags.

Ghana: Nelplast Eco Ghana has launched a moulded block produced from a paste of 70% sand and 30% recycled plastics. Xinhua Hello Africa News has reported that the producer sells the blocks as a cement-free alternative building material for building walls, in conjunction with a concrete base and columns. The cost is US$11,000 per house. Nelplast Eco Ghana hopes that the product will ease Ghana’s 2m-unit housing shortage and prevent some of the 1Mt/yr plastic waste (over 95% nationally) going to landfill. It aims to expand its capacity from 1100t/yr in the near-term future.

Germany: Cemex Zement, part of Mexico-based Cemex, has bought a 400t/hr floating bucket chain dredger. The company plans to use the vessel in its aggregates operations on the River Elbe around Rogätz, Saxony-Anhalt. It includes a dewatering screening machine, a fine sand recovery system and a conveyor belt that transports the processed sands and gravels ashore. The dredger replaces an older 350t/hr model which has been in action since the mid-1990s. The company said that the purchase is in line with its strategy to enhance its vertically integrated positions near growing metropolises. Elbe operations supply aggregates to produce concrete for the Berlin market.

Central Europe vice president of materials Rüdiger Kuhn said "With this important investment, our company strengthens its position in the metropolitan market of Berlin and secures the long-term availability of valuable mineral raw materials for its customers."

Japan: Researchers from the University of Tokyo have developed a new method for producing cement-free concrete from sand. The method reacts sand with alcohol in the presence of a catalyst, according to ChemEurope. When dehydrated, this produces tetraalkoxysilate. The research team then reintroduced water, and thus allowed the reactants to move back and forth between tetraalkoxysilate and sand. In this way, the sand particles progressively bonded together. The resulting concrete is reportedly more resilient to chemical, temperature and humidity changes than concrete produced from Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC).

In the report of the findings, researcher Ahmad Farahani wrote that various sources of sand tested suitable for use, including silica sand, glass beads and simulated moon sand. This gives the method the advantage that it is non-specific to raw materials or locations, and can be integrated into waste management.

China: Huaxin Cement plans to invest US$184m in a green building materials joint venture called Huangshi Huaxin Green Building Materials. The group says that the other investors are Huangshi City Urban Development Investment Group and Yangxin County Mining Investment. The partners plan to invest a total of US$1.84bn to establish a 2Mt/yr lime plant, a 100Mt/yr artificial sand and gravel plant and a 2bn blocks/yr building materials plant. The new facilities are to be situated in Yangxin County, Hubei Province. The units will be built in phases from January 2021.