SBM Mineral Processing highlighted several crushers earlier this year at Hillhead.
The show served as the official UK market launch for the Remax 600 impact crusher, and the company used the show as an opportunity to focus on the benefits of fully hybrid processing.
“Despite the currently rather subdued mood in the UK market, which was probably also reflected in the strongly fluctuating visitor numbers during the three days of the show, we are satisfied with the overall result,” says Helmut Haider, sales director of processing at SBM. “In addition to international visitors, we were able to welcome interested experts from all over the UK and from all target sectors and decision-making levels – including construction and recycling companies, project and quarry managers, as well as chief buyers from large building materials groups. This is a clear endorsement of our significantly increased market presence.”
The Remax 600 – the Austrian manufacturer’s new flagship crusher – features a maximum output of 600 tph with a 1400 class impact crusher. SBM says the machine is suitable for a wide range of applications in raw materials and recycling and, depending on the equipment, up to five end products in a single pass.
The crusher is also serving as the basis of an autonomous crusher SBM is developing in tandem with the University of Leoben. The technology is expected to be ready for market launch and use in other crusher classes as early as 2026.
“We are well on schedule here,” Haider says. “We are currently optimizing the AI-supported real-time detection and classification of the feed material and crushed products as the basis for the fully automated crushing process, which is continuously validated via a global data exchange with our central competence center and automatically adjusted if necessary.”
Thousands of stored rock and process data will make it easier to plan mobile operations while extensive self-monitoring, including wear detection, will ensure plant availability, according to SBM. These are expected to set new standards in environmental efficiency, driven by the autonomous control concept that is consistently focused on quality and performance parameters, the company adds.
Honing in on hybrid
Diesel-electric and hybrid drives for mobile processing plants were one of the dominant themes at Hillhead 2024. This is a familiar focus for SBM.
“We have been offering this technology for more than 40 years, and today we focus exclusively on highly efficient, environmentally friendly and, above all, mature hybrid solutions in all machine classes across all systems,” Haider says.
Visitors to Hillhead were able to see hybrid offerings first-hand as they toured the stands.
“UK operators of mobile crushing plants in the quarrying and recycling sectors still rely predominantly on jaw crushers, often with downstream screening equipment,” Haider says. “On the stand we presented our ‘all-rounder,’ the Jawmax 450. With a weight of around 40 tons and a maximum throughput of 450 tph, it is aimed at precisely this wide range of applications.
“In a direct comparison, many experts praised the complete integration of electrified main and auxiliary drives which, in addition to a very compact machine concept, enables a high level of user-friendliness thanks to our crush control system,” Haider adds. “We have often heard that other suppliers need to improve in this area.”
Crushing in action
Along with the Remax 600 and Jawmax 450 at the company’s stand, SBM’s Remax 450 garnered attention at Hillhead. Alongside a single-deck secondary screen in the live demo, the Remax 450 processed a total of 1,500 tons of limestone from 0/800 to “Type 1” 0/40, achieving a maximum of 300 tph with an average consumption of just under 25 liters of fuel per hour.
“With their combination of class-leading crusher sizes, well-dimensioned primary and secondary screens, optimized transport dimensions and low operating costs, our Remax models are particularly popular with UK contract crushers, but also with stationary operators,” Haider says. “This is also confirmed by our dealers. Why have two or three machines with high transport costs when I can get the job done with one machine, the same or even less manpower and a fraction of the fuel and wear costs?”