Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/815541
AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2017 17 regardless of what anyone else says, they don't get on it," he says. "It gives them a bit of empowerment." "We take safety very serious," Hancock explains. "We train and train, and then do some more training. I want my employees to go home to their fam- ilies every night. It's the most important thing to me in the business. It's just how we operate." Supporting the community Sloan Quarry is located 19 miles south of downtown Las Vegas, but the city's population has been creeping steadily closer. There's a very affluent neigh- borhood, Southern Highlands, with multi-million dollar homes just to the north of the quarry. "We are careful about how we do what we do," Priest says, explaining that they keep the community abreast of what's going on at the quarry. "We have good relations with Southern Highlands. We shape the mountain a certain way to make it look good. Unless you know what you're looking at, you don't know it's there." "The local desert environment is susceptible and can be challenging to control airborne emissions," says Kathryn Hites, regional environmental and land manager for AIUS. "We work hard to address this issue through differ- ent controls, like continual watering of haul roads and stockpiles." Despite these challenges, Aggregate Industries makes every effort to be a good neighbor and responsible stew- ard. For example, the secondary and overland conveyors have dust collectors to help control the dust, and the convey- ors have water nozzles to keep the material damp enough to prevent it from becoming airborne. An environmentally friendly binder is used on the haul road to help seal it, and three water trucks spray throughout the plant site. Construction notices for high-wind advisories are issued when conditions warrant. When that happens, Hancock says they shut down operations on top of the mountain and the overland conveyor, and just operate from the surge piles at the wash plant. The quarry also supports local char- ities, such as the Boys & Girls Club, and participates in an annual fund-raising event known as the Fall Festival, which is put on by the Southern Highlands community. Sloan Quarry works with the Nevada Mining Association by offering quarry tours. "They bring in local school teachers to tour the site," Hancock says. "It's good to be a part of it. I've been mining for 20 some-odd years, and you get a bad rap until somebody comes out and actually sees the good things you're doing." "We also bring in an elementary school and take the kids up on the mountain so they can get an overview of what we do at the quarry," Hites adds. "We take them out to see the 777, which they get a kick out of. We try to keep the community involved in what we do because we want to keep our neighbors happy." The quarry also works closely with engineering groups from the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), the largest col- lege campus in southern Nevada. Priest says they never know what to expect from the university. Occasionally, ma- terials are provided for a UNLV research project, and sometimes they want to tour the quarry to see "the big boy toys." Looking to the future The future is looking pretty bright for Sloan Quarry. "The construction market is rebounding, and we're starting to see our volumes grow," Priest notes. "The residential and multi-family infrastruc- ture sector is coming back big time in this market now. We're venturing out west where we have a good relationship with the Howard Hughes Corp. that owns all the property on the west side of town. A new golf course is going in, and they're talking about high-speed rail between here and California to help with future traffic." "What sets us apart from everyone else is the team that we have, the commitment that we have, and how well we communicate," Hancock says. "The future is exciting because we all work well together. Going forward, I think it's going to be really good, because we have a good core team here." AM Equipment List • Caterpillar 992G loader • Caterpillar 777F haul trucks (2) • Komatsu 605D haul truck • Caterpillar D10R dozer • Atlas Copco DM45 down hole drill • Caterpillar 988F loader • Caterpillar 385 excavator • Caterpillar 365 excavator • Caterpillar 775D haul truck • Caterpillar 990G loader • Caterpillar 988H loader • Caterpillar 769C water truck • Caterpillar 773B water truck • Caterpillar 216B Skid steers (3) • 1-ton service trucks (4) • Traylor 55 x 84 gyratory crusher • Hazemag 1430 horizontal impact crusher • Canica 155 vertical shaft impact crusher • Simplicity 8 x24 triple-deck screen • Cedarapids 8 x 20 triple deck screens (2) • Sandvik 6800 cone crusher • JCI 6 x 20 triple-deck screens (3) • Cedarapids 6X20 triple-deck screen • Canica 100 vertical shaft impact crusher (2) • Cedarapids 7x20 triple-deck screens (3) • Cedarapids 5x16 triple-deck screen • Diester 6X12 single-deck dewatering screen • Canica 105 verticle shaft impact crusher • Canica 80 vertical shaft impact crusher (2) • Svedala 8x24 triple-deck screen • Simplicity 8x20 triple-deck screen • Cedarapids 5x16 triple-deck screen • Diester 8x16 single-deck dewatering screen • Jing Jen filter press with120 plates