Pit & Quarry, November 2015

launched in October 2014 producing six gradations of stone that possess the cubicity the operation sought for road construction materials According to Imler the 1200 impactor is producing about 250 tph and effectively meeting Sergeant Stones needs As our rock gets more into the market people realize it makes a good concrete product he says Full speed ahead Imler who partnered with engineer Tim Linn and excavation contractor Ron Scurlock to launch Sergeant Stone had his eye on his new companys property for a number of years Imler says he knew about the limestone in 2004 because the propertys owner notified him about it Imler had a core drilling company at the time About a dozen holes were drilled across the expansive property to determine the depth and spread of the limestone EQUIPMENT FOCUS CRUSHING SECONDARY BREAKING and the potential opportunity ahead About a decade after doing those first drills Imler leased the property I didnt bid on the property at the time he told me about this lime rock says Imler who spent a number of years in coal mining But I never forgot about it Once Imler and his partners decided to launch their company which employs five people they didnt need much time to prepare a crushing and screening site We uncovered the crusher area in two and a half to three weeks Imler says Powell was astounded at how quickly Sergeant Stone prepared the area He had visited the site when it was as green as the rest of the rural community around it so the rapid turnaround caught him by surprise The overburden on it is soft Powell says so it didnt take that long As an operation Sergeant Stones goal is to mine and reclaim as it goes The operation has been running for about a year now but it completed one section this summer and reclaimed the space in four days according to Imler We stockpiled the overburden so we could put it right back in he says Imler adopted the reclaim as he goes philosophy from his coal mining days We stripped coal for years and in two months the land was reclaimed he says Youd reclaim right behind you Currently the operation is mining about 17 ft deep Overburden represents Claude Imler owned and operated coal mines earlier in his career Photos courtesy of Daniel Friedman about 8 of the 17 ft Imler says leaving about 9 ft of saleable rock They call this area a Brush Creek seam Imler says Its kind of unique The whole area through here is about 8 to 9 1 2 ft thick That makes it unique because its usually 3 ft Operational adjustment Most of the rock blasted at Sergeant Stone is ready for the primary crusher which handles rocks up to 24 in in diameter A breaker prepares the rest for the crusher and all material is currently hauled about 1000 ft from the mine to the crushing plant across the road In all Sergeant Stones 1200 impactor produces six gradations of stone Among the gradations produced is 57 stone which was in particularly high demand over the past 12 months The operation couldnt keep up with the demand at one point so it added a UM 400 secondary impactor from Eagle Crusher to produce more 57s Theres a certain percentage from the primary crusher that comes off as 1s and 2s says Tim Smith environmental division sales manager at Columbus Engineering classification of intact rock Type Compression strength Very high strength Greater than 32000 psi High strength 16000 32000 psi Medium strength 8000 16000 psi Low strength 4000 8000 psi Very low strength Less than 4000 psi Practical Handbook of Physical Properties of Rocks and Minerals The compression strength of Sergeant Stones deposit is very high One sample measured at 49360 psi www pitandquarry com November 2015 PIT QUARRY 15