Liebherr L 556 - Manual (Page 39)

Quarrying // 39
concrete mixer trucks. Concrevit also relies on
a subsidiary in Rio de Janeiro, which operates
with three more Liebherr R 944 hydraulic
excavators and four L 580 wheel loaders.
The Geocal plant in Santana de Parnaíba
currently turns over approximately 27,550 tons
of material a day, in two 9-hour working shifts.
The Liebherr equipment operates nearly non-
stop during these shifts. The machines are refilled
with gas inside the mine by a convoy of trucks.
This leads to reduced downtime and enhanced
productivity.
Roberto Zanotto values Liebherr’s equipment quality, availability
and service excellence. “ Liebherr equipment never caused any
problems, and I have no complaints about unscheduled
downtimes. However, whenever needed, I have always been
readily assisted by the service team. Our machines must work
reliably; after all, they are the resources we have in order to operate
daily, and Liebherr is the ideal partner for that,” he says.
Zanotto also says that he uses the machines to their exhaustion:
“The first loader we bought operated for about 25,000 hours.”
Compared to the miles a car runs, this figure is equivalent to
approximately 93,205 miles. To Zanotto, it is difficult to find skilled
manpower in Brazil to work with the machines. Therefore, he
invests in his employees and, whenever possible, uses Liebherr’s
training center in Brazil.
Safety is another important factor for the operations at Geocal.
The quarry pit is very deep – approximately 492 feet deep – and
features very narrow benches that require the equipment to
operate within a very tight radius. The Liebherr excavators offer
a high level of safety, as the weight is ideally distributed so the
machine does not swing when operating in the mine. “As the
benches are quite narrow, the comfort and safety that Liebherr
excavators provide the operators are incomparable,” says
Silviano Salazar, Geocal’s mine manager.
Hydraulic excavators are
used in the extraction.
“ Liebherr equipment never caused any
problems, and I have no complaints about
unscheduled downtimes.”
Roberto Zanotto, founder and managing director
The wheel loaders are used for transport and loading.
Geocal has forward-looking plans and sees Liebherr as a partner
for that. The company’s projects are oriented to the diversification
of the quarry activities, such as the investment planned for this year
in the production of filler, which is the limestone powder used as
mortar additive. Zanotto sees growth opportunity in the special sand
segment, as sand is a base product for civil construction, and due
to environmental laws, it is getting more and more difficult to meet
product requirements. Roberto Zanotto concludes: “We want to
diversify, but we need to be specialists in what we understand: raw
material production. This is our target for the future”.
Sector:
Size of company:
Founded:
Location:
Managing Director:
Website:
Liebherr machines
in operation:
Geocal Mineração
Company profile
Quarrying
1200 employees
1994
Santana de Parnaiba, Brazil
Roberto Zanotto
www.geocal.com.br
L 538, L 580, R 944 B, R 944 C, R 954 C,
R 964 C