Gabriel Couto announced the commencement of operations at a large quarry in Mozambique.
Located in Malema, some 19 miles from Cuamba near the current N8 road (the future N 13) linking Cuamba to Nampula, the quarry was established to efficiently supply crushed aggregates for the project upgrading the Nampula-Cuamba road under a contract with the ANE (National Roads Administration). The quarry’s strategic location will allow it to provide crushed aggregate to several additional projects which are either planned or underway in the region.
The Company estimates, for the quarry, 400,000 m3 of extracted rock " in situ" ( some 14 million cubic feet of rock) the equivalent of about one million tons of processed material.
The quarry is equipped for an average daily production of some 1,600 tons per day, and in 2015 it is scheduled to produce about 355,000 tons of primary crushed stone, 40,000 tons of aggregates for pavement, 15,000 tons of aggregates for concrete, and 300,000 tons of aggregates for stone base. The quarry currently meets all Mozambique licensing requirements, and the current mining certificate is valid through 2016.
Gabriel Couto has assigned a carefully selected team to the quarry, including a mining engineer, a quarry officer, crusher operators, drilling operators, explosive specialists, dumper operators, wheel loaders and excavators. A strong commitment was made to train local personnel to become qualified operators of all types of equipment and to handle explosives.
The quarry is equipped with primary crushers, a secondary conic crusher, and a tertiary conic crusher with vibrating screen. Additionally serving the quarry are four crawler excavators (30 and 35 ton.), four loaders, and three articulated dumpers (35 and 40 ton). Drilling equipment consists of a Crawler ROC.
Recently, a unit for a second worksite within the quarry was obtained, representing an additional investment of € 600,535. The acquisition of this equipment will double the production capacity of the second worksite.