Modern Quarrying January-February 2017

SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHT

A three-decade long relationship between a large-scale equipment supplier and a family-run quarrying operation on the West Rand has become a prime case study in the Building a quarrying legacy on trust “Back in the day, we started our river sand operation with a single Furukawa FL 230 front-end loader that we bought from Blacks Engineering, a start-up company with a decent sales manager who convinced us that the big Japanese machines were the best way to go for reliability and work ability. But, after owning it for a year or two, he relocated to England and the company was sold to Bateman Earthmoving Equipment (later to become ELB Equipment).” a joint venture with Kawasaki to continue producing some of its machines. ELB scooped up the Kawasaki agency and the newmachines quickly propelled Lion Park Quarries’ production to a completely new level. “With vastly improved turnover and a

growing fleet, we soon exhausted our fine river sand overburden and were faced with the new challenge of solid bedrock,” Meintjes explains. “This presented us with the opportunity of becoming a ful- ly-fledged quarry able to supply the home building industry as well as roads and cer- tain infrastructure projects.” Divisional director of ELB Equipment Des van Heerden continues: “Our client needed a good deal of assistance on all fronts to unlock the new mineral wealth at its feet. This simple load and haul oper- ation was about to get a whole lot more complicated. From now on, the operation would need blasting, excavating, loading, crushing, screening, washing and stock- piling and fortunately, we could provide them with the right solutions. “We also restructured different types

T he chance recruitment of ELB Equipment as the pre- ferred equipment supplier for Lion Park Quarries 31 years ago, has led to a part- nership that has taken the company from a small river sand supplier to one of the most successful privately-owned sand and aggregate quarries in the Western Gauteng area. Much of the success of the venture, says owner Johan Meintjes, can be ascribed to the reliable equipment, after-sales service and finance assistance that has been offered to the company through the years. establishment of a successful symbiotic business relationship.

Meintjes says that was really where it all began, “and soon we found ELB was a really good company with hon- est people and terrific support for the machines. We began working very closely with them and as our requirements began to change, they became an integral part of our decision-making process to supply the right equipment for the jobs required.” This meant that as the sand operation grew and the company moved to a new site, it required more FELs and decided to purchase new Kawasaki loaders. During this period, the Furukawa FELs were being discontinued and the company has

Sumitomo excavators thrive in the hard labour environment at the bottom of the Lion Park Quarry pit.

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MODERN QUARRYING January - February 2017