6:30 A.M. I stepped out of my pickup when I got to our shop and this sunrise greeted me.
My first task was to strip the overburden( loose rock, sand and dirt) from the next area we are going to have blasted.
When I took this video I thought if I held my phone(camera) sideways it would shoot a bigger picture. I was wrong, but lesson learned.
The overburden is removed, the rock blasted, then a Cat 988 loader,
feeds the material into the "jaw".
After initial crushing, the rock is distributed by conveyor belts where it is crushed again into specific sizes, sorted and dumped into piles, or directly into the "haul Truck"
To put the size of this equipment in perspective,I took a selfie standing next to the tire of this haul truck. My phone cover takes some abuse in these conditions so the picture is a little blurred.
One product we make is "washed" rock. Water is sprayed over the material to wash off dirt and dust. This requires huge amounts of water which we recycle in silt ponds.
The silt builds up in these ponds till the sludge is over 8 feet deep.
2 or 3 times a year we have to clean out these ponds. My second task of the week. I used the side dump for this because it is water tight.
Quite messy, especially when I unload. The silt is so runny it flowed downhill away from the trailer. I dumped 23 loads in the exact same spot.
Before I finished the first pond, I was directed to help set up a new "jaw" capable of crushing rock up to nearly 4 feet in size. 50% bigger than the one currently in use. I needed to build a retaining wall so the loader can get close enough to feed the jaw.
2 years ago we produced about 170,000 tons of rock products. Last year that was up to around 250,000 tons. Our goal for this year is 400,000 tons. Our fleet of close to 30 trucks delivers these materials, along with other hauling jobs we do for various customers.
Until the price of Steem hits the moon, I'll keep my day job. So for now...
By Warner Bros. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
All other photos and video original work by 