Liebherr L 556 User Manual
Page 34
34 // Quarrying
“The excavator is very well balanced in its work, and extremely
stable. Its power guarantees good digging force and it is faster
than the R 954. After ten loading cycles, there is a productivity
increase of 20 percent between the two models – and fuel
consumption is the same.”
Ambazac attains qualification for C2 gravel
The quarries at Ambazac are the heart of the Les Pierres
d’Ambazac Holding, which was founded in 1976 by the father of
the current company manager, Jean-Roger Delanne. Jean-Roger
Delanne has been working for the company since 1980, taking
over management responsibility initially with his brother, and then
by himself in 2000.
In the coming years he is planning to invest in replacements for
three large crawler excavators and two wheel loaders. “We shall
request an undertaking from Liebherr with respect to efficiency
and availability. The excavator in the quarry is the first link in our
production chain. From Liebherr, I expect the assured efficiency
of 92 % operational availability from the first year, never dropping
below 85 %.” A request that the manufacturer is happy to fulfill.
Imerys Ceramics France: feldspar from Montebras
The feldspar quarry and plant at Montebras are part of Imerys
Ceramics France, a world market leader for industrial minerals.
Imerys Ceramics is part of the Ceramic Materials division of
the Imerys Group. The Group employs 16,000 people in 47
countries. Quarrying takes place over ten months, where by
50 % of the volume produced is delivered to Italian tile
manufacturers. The feldspar is used primarily to manufacturer
large format and “super white” tiles. Other customers are located
in France, Germany and Poland.
Even though a railway line is present on site, the entire production
is now transported by road. “Sixty percent of the production
volume used to be shipped by rail, until 2011, when SNCF
Quarrying in profile: Ambazac and Montebras