the Great Lakes, where it is used for a variety of purposes in the steel industry. Drummond Dolomite usually begins production in the last week of March and ends around Thanksgiving. Because weather forces the quarry to shut down during the winter months, employees have to be extremely productive during the work season.
Key to making the operation run are many long-term employees, including Maintenance Superintendent Dave Klamerus, Mill Foreman Steve Kemppalnen and Garage Head Mechanic Greg McGuire. Office Manager Jeff Hiney and Administrative Assistant Karen Richwine head up the inside operations, while Mike Fairchild does boatloading.
"Our people make us very productive," Aikey acknowledged. "We have a solid core of people who work very hard to make sure we meet demands. We wouldn't be where we are now without them. They deserve much of the credit for our success."
Those employees keep the operation hopping. Production begins in Pit No. 2, where crews strip the raw material. Pit No. 2 is farther inland than Pit No. 1, and is now the only one out of which the company operates. After shooting and blasting the material, crews use Komatsu HD325 haul trucks specially equipped with 75-ton trailers to haul material six miles to Drummond Dolomite's crusher, which breaks it down into more useable products. The trucks make roughly 20 trips every 10 hours.
"It's actually a 1,000-ton-per-hour plant, but we've beefed it up to run roughly 1,150 to 1,200 tons per hour," Aikey said. "We accomplished that by using some space openings and eliminating bottlenecks, finding different ways to do things. We'll produce 12,000 tons in a 10-hour day."
Drummond Dolomite subcontracts work that it would prefer not to handle in-house. For example, the company subcontracts its blasting work. "Subbing out the blasting eliminates people, insurance and liability - plus we get a better job," Aikey explained. "Those guys are specialists. They're up on all the hot techniques and new explosives. And we get a set cost, so we've eliminated layers of management. That
Drummond Dolomite uses six Komatsu HD325-6 haul
trucks to carry materials from its pit to the crusher. The trucks were
modified to carry as much as 75 tons over the six-mile haul. "We're
able to haul more material at one time so our production cost isn't
as high," said Plant Manager Gib Aikey.
helps keep our costs down, which in turn helps with our pricing and bottom line."
Shipping product
Aikey said that more than 800,000 tons of Drummond Dolomite's two-inch kiln stone product goes to Carmuse Lime Company. In addition, Drummond Dolomite produces a variety of other products, ranging from two-inch rock all the way down to road base and ag lime, which is almost a powder.
Aikey explained that everything goes out by bulk, thanks to water transportation. A typical vessel will carry 20,000 tons; 99 ships made trips from the island last year, and this year the number is expected to be about the same.
"It's the cheapest form of transportation in the world," he said. "That's what makes this quarry so valuable. There's a lot of dolomite stone around, but not right on the water like this. They're all inland, so they have to send materials out by train, truck or some other means. It's more expensive to do it that way."
Using the right equipment
To help with production at Drummond, Osborne Materials Company turns to Road Machinery and Supplies for much of its equipment needs. The company recently purchased a Komatsu PC400LC-7 excavator and two new Komatsu HD325-6 haul trucks to add to its fleet. Drummond Dolomite already had four HD325 trucks, purchased within the last three years.