Stelex Engineering Ltd. assisted in a major refurbishment of the first of the new design Hercules Trommel installed in 2006. This follows over 7 million tonnes of throughput and will ensure that it operates at its optimum level.

The barrel feed and discharge support sections, feeder table wear resistant liners and some feed hopper wear resistant liners were replaced along with a few items that showed signs of wear after 7 years production.

The primary barrel is a critical part of the quarry’s processing plant. It is a long barrel in three sections of 4M, each section having differing mesh sizes. It is the first piece of the processing plant – after the dump trucks have deposited the raw material into the hopper, it passes through the primary barrel and smaller material drops through the mesh, separating the smaller material. The process of agitation separates the majority of the hassock (clay and sand) from the hard Kent Rag-stone, prior to the Kent Rag-stone going on to further processing. The primary barrel is therefore a very important piece of the process and the major refurbishment it underwent over the Christmas period has ensured that it is now good for continued use over the coming years.