High up in the Smoky mountains, in Topton, North Carolina, set in a scenic beautiful location, lies the Nantahala talc and limestone mine, home of North America’s first Sandvik QE440 scalping screen. Despite its sturdy 36 t and 16.33 m length, the scalper was easily transported the 900 m up the side of the mountains. The hydraulic folding tail and side conveyors and the fully tracked chassis facilitated a quick and easy set up. The screener was fed 0-600 mm of blasted stone by a 330 Hitachi excavator, with a 980 Cat loader occasionally moving the piles.By the end of two hours, both the excavator and the loader were working full time, feeding the scalper, which was running empty on every load and which, at 410 t/h, was still not working at its full capacity of up to 900 t/h.
The word Nantahala comes from the Cherokee language and it means “land of the noon-day sun”, which accurately describes the remoteness of the location of the steep river gorge where the quarry is located. William (Bill) McNeely has owned this site since 2006, continuing with operations which date back well before the Civil War.
McNeely was in need of a heavy duty and quality scalper that could initially screen the heavy volume of material blasted off the face of the quarry every two weeks. After having extensively researched the offers in the market, the impressive quality, production and mobility of the Sandvik QE440 were enough to make up McNeely’s mind in just two hours after seeing the machine working.
The performance of the Sandvik QE440 has been made possible by the 18 months of Sandvik’s R&D program. Based on in-depth customer and market analysis, it is aimed at large producers in the recycling, quarrying and mining sectors and to this end boasts a 40% more screening surface than its little brother, the Sandvik QE340. The conveyors have been designed wider and to be positioned higher, in order to cope with the increased production capacity and facilitate larger stockpiles. Among its many features are a scalping surface of 5.48 x 1.75 m / 5 x 1.75 m. It has stockpiling conveyors of:
- Oversize: 1,600 mm wide and up to 4,150 mm discharge height
- Mid size: 900 mm wide and 4,000 mm discharge height
- Fines collector: 1,000 mm wide and 4,200 mm discharge height.
A wide range of screen media options suit different applications. Additional options are available to suit different climates, conditions and needs. It also features fully tracked for onsite mobility and global aftermarket support
The machine’s design is compliant with all the latest CE standards, efficient fuel economy and low operating costs.
In McNeely’s own words “the QE440 is a magnificent machine, well designed and will become a market leader in the North American market. This machine lives up to everything we have asked for and have long anticipated what it would be”.