250 TPH Three-Combination Mobile Station — Granite Aggregate, South Africa

author: Ryan

2026-05-22

Challenge of aggregate crushing plant South Africa

A road construction contractor on South Africa's N1 highway corridor needed aggregate at five different work sites spread across 120 km of the Highveld. The granite outcrops along the route tested at 180–220 MPa compressive strength with 65% silica content — abrasive enough to destroy budget crusher wear parts within weeks.

The contractor's original plan — one fixed crushing plant at the midpoint, trucking stone to each site — died on the spreadsheet. Transport quotes came back at R 180/ton (ZAR) for the farthest sites. At 250 t/h demand, that meant R 45,000 per hour just to move stone. A fixed plant was economically unviable.

The project needed a mobile solution that could: (1) crush abrasive Highveld granite at 250 t/h, (2) relocate between sites within a week, (3) produce three gradations (0-5 mm, 5-20 mm, 20-40 mm) meeting SANS 1083 road aggregate specifications, and (4) operate with a crew of four — the maximum the contractor could allocate to crushing.

Solution

XLM specified a three-combination mobile crushing station built around a PE-750×1060 jaw crusher for primary reduction, an HP200 multi-cylinder hydraulic cone crusher for secondary crushing, and a 3YK2160 triple-deck vibrating screen — all mounted on a single trailer chassis.

The jaw crusher was up-rated to a 132 kW motor with reinforced manganese steel jaw dies rated for the 220 MPa granite. The HP200 cone operated at a CSS of 14 mm in closed circuit with the screen, returning oversize via an on-board return conveyor. The three-deck screen split product into 0-5 mm (crusher dust for sub-base), 5-20 mm (concrete aggregate), and 20-40 mm (road base course).

The entire station shipped from Tianjin to Durban in four 40-foot containers. On-site assembly — deploying hydraulic outriggers, connecting the on-board diesel generator, calibrating the screen — took five days from container opening to first production. XLM's commissioning engineer spent eight days on site training the contractor's crew on CSS adjustment, screen mesh changes, and daily wear-part inspection routines for abrasive granite.

Results

250 t/h sustained on Highveld granite at 180-220 MPa — meeting design capacity within 48 hours of commissioning
Relocated four times across 120 km of highway corridor over 11 months — average 3.5 days from shutdown at one site to full production at the next
Jaw die life 2,100 hours on abrasive granite — within 8% of manufacturer estimate despite 65% silica
Final product flakiness index 12% — within SANS 1083 limit of 20% for road base
Estimated transport cost savings of R 14.2 million (~$760,000) vs the fixed-plant-and-truck scenario
Contractor ordered a second identical unit for a follow-on contract in Limpopo Province