Pit & Quarry, April 2012

CONVEYING MATERIAL HANDLING All about efficiency Strategic on the ground efficiency takes a frac sand producer to new heights T he Preferred Sands story is about rapid expansion into the right markets and with the right mission in mind Launched in 2007 Preferred Sands is an owner operated frac sand and proppant company and following the acquisition of its first silica sand mine in Genoa Neb it has broadened its geographic footprint to include operations in Minnesota Arizona Wisconsin and Canada Preferred has grown its capacity from 180000 tons in 2008 to more than 2 million in 2011 with a business plan and capacity to produce in excess of 5 million tons in 2012 The company attributes its growth to highquality reserves and applying an analytical eye to efficiencies Expansion is a critical component for us in meeting market demand for high quality frac sand and in supplying flexible delivery solutions says T J Doyle Preferreds COO We have geologists mine planners engineers and financial analysts examining each process at each plant We break down every aspect of our business to weed out any inefficiencies As in the manufacturing sector ones level of efficiency overwhelmingly determines whether or not a company remains competitive and profitable he says Among the many efficiency action items in play at Preferred Sands is that of replacing rolling stock equipment excavators haul trucks and loaders with the right conveyor systems for given material transfer and stockpiling applications At its Arizona based plant Preferred recently replaced rolling stock units with two Superior Industries TeleStacker conveyors for high volume low cost stockpiling At its Nebraska site the company reduced loader use by accessing Superior Industries portable jump conveyors We conducted a cost benefit analysis on conveyors versus rolling stock equipment Doyle says With mine expansion we examined how much material and at what cost could be moved at a given transport distance with a given loader and bucket size At increased capacities and to feed the hopper at the desired rate one obviously has to insert more rolling stock units However he says considering the cost of fuel and labor we needed to move more material with less rolling stock equipment Even considering the costs of new conveyor systems the returns are quickly realized he adds A recent study conducted by Superior Industries engineers at another mining operation suggested that after replacing haul trucks and loaders with conveyor systems the operation experienced savings as high as 046 per ton 2800 per day 700000 annually according to the conveyor manufacturer BY CAROL WASSON 12 PIT QUARRY April 2012 www pitandquarry com