Fuel Savings
Environmentally Friendly
Tyre Savings
Increased Productivity
Water Savings
Effective Dust Suppression
No recapping required
Safety
Road Management Services
A unique, full service turnkey solution for haul road management
Dust-A-Side is one of the largest providers of haul road and dust control management solutions to the mining industry in the world. Today, we operate at over 70 mine sites across four continents, employ nearly 700 personnel and leverage off our dynamic global parent company. As such, we are uniquely placed to provide a holistic approach to haul road management.
We do far more than sell dust suppression products like so many in our industry; we provide a full-service business model incorporating the manufacture, supply, installation, maintenance and management of haul road performance and dust control solutions. This includes:
- All personnel
- Training
- Plant and equipment
- Dust suppression products
- Technology
- Systems
Our single-minded, one-source approach doesn’t just help you enjoy unmatched economies of scale, it also means that we can achieve highly effective plus a supremely productive haul road running surface on any mine site.
Total Haul Road Management
Step 1: Manufacturing
Dust-A-Side doesn’t just have THE best dust suppression product for haul roads on the market – DAS Product – we also have our own proven global supply chain and an incomparable logistics capability.
DASProduct is a bespoke dust control product developed especially for the mining industry, using proprietary bitumen emulsion technology.
It has been proven to control fugitive dust, as well as stabilise the wearing course layer on permanent haul roads at mining sites throughout the world. It is manufactured globally and in some countries under license through our parent company Colas, leveraging off their global bitumen supply chain and unrivalled manufacturing expertise in the global market.
The Colas Group is a highly regarded global bitumen technology organisation, with an emphasis on bitumen supply and associated technologies. Important elements of our regional strategy include the investment in a new bitumen refinery located in Malaysia (capable of producing in excess of 1 million tonnes of bitumen per year) and a fleet of bitumen bulk carriers. We produce more than 70M litres of speciality emulsions annually.
Not only does this give us full control over ISO 9001:2008 quality, but it also allows us to:
- Minimise costs
- Guarantee continuity of supply
- Provide geographic redundancy
Following manufacturing facilities – across our global operational presence – we are able to manufacture and store enough quantities of DASProduct to establish and maintain a consistency of product supply for the mining industry’s haul roads.
Total Haul Road Management
Steps 2 & 3: Bulk Transportation & Storage
Manufacturing a highly effective dust suppression product is one thing – getting it to your site cost-efficiently and onto your haul roads is another thing altogether.
As part of our vertically integrated business model, Dust-A-Side has developed a comprehensive in-house bulk transportation capability, to overcome the “tyranny of distance” for large projects hundreds of kilometres from anywhere.
Our reliable fleet can efficiently transport up to 90,000 litres of DASProduct per load from our manufacturing plants and strategically positioned storage depots to remote operations across the length and breadth of our operations.
It can be then stored in customised storage tanks onsite, so it’s right on hand and ready to use.
Storing DASProduct in bulk at your facility saves you money on transport, plus there are no IBC’s, drums or other containers so there are economic and environmental benefits too.
And best of all, it’s all handled for you by trained experts.
Total Haul Road Management
Step 4: Road Preparation
Preparation is important in most aspects of life – in haul road management, it’s critical. Prior to establishing the haul road, we ensure that the foundations are all in order and that the road-base layers have been properly prepared and profiled to the highest possible standards. This process involves:
- Construction of the haul road sub-grade and sub-base layers to ensure that the haulroad has sufficient underlying strength to support the weight of the loaded equipment that will be travelling along it
- Incorporation of adequate crossfall and super-elevation, as well as appropriate drainage, and
- Development of a surface layer (base course)
Once the road has been properly prepared, the surface layer material will then be spilled into windrows on either side of the roadway.
Total Haul Road Management
Step 5: Road Establishment
Once the haul road has been expertly prepared; the road establishment process can commence. This is completed through one of the two methods:
- Road management
- Spray-on solution
Road Management
Our road management process is without peer. Refined for more than 40 years has been proven to yield the most productive haul roads at the lowest life-cycle cost.
Stabilisation of the haul road provides an improved haul road running surface that will reduce the need to regularly grade and re-sheet roads, improve the rolling resistance for mobile equipment and thus improve cycle time efficiency.
DASProduct is initially established into the wearing course layer of the haul road to bind material and provide a surface seal that significantly reduces wheel-generated dust and the ingress of water into the road-base.
It is applied via a water cart and, for best results, a modified spray bar and nozzle system is incorporated onto the watercart. The final trim grader operator mixes the product with the windrows using the grader, before capping the road surface with the mixed material.
During the stabilisation process, a roller is initially used for compaction, although heavy mobile machinery will provide optimum compaction upon completion of the road establishment process.
Spray-On Solution
In instances where road management is not desired, DASProduct is simply applied onto the surface of the road via a series of light dilutions.
The repeated application of the product and penetration properties of the formulation will lead to a steady progressive build-up of a bitumen sealed surface that binds surface material together and prevents water ingress.
Total Haul Road Management
Step 6: Maintenance
With roads established and maintained with a a bitumen-based seal, it does not leach out during inclement weather and it is by far the easiest road binder material to repair. During the Maintenance Phase, repeated applications of diluted DASProduct are applied to maintain the integrity of the running surface, eliminate water ingress beneath the surface, and control dust.
Our unique maintenance system is designed to ensure that the on-going road quality is optimised and therefore the available benefits maximised.
The maintenance system not only comprises the on-going application of product, but also the following proprietary processes as and when required:
- Sweeping (using specially designed mine haul road sweepers) to control dust, contamination and loose material on the surface established and treated with DASProduct
- Skimming of the wearing course surface with a grader or similar means to remove heavy contamination and loose material
- Re-scarifying of the riding surface to maintain the integrity of the seal layer and retain adequate surface texture properties
- Pothole repair
- Repair of failed sections of the haul road
- Repair of damaged sections of the haul road
Adoption of Dust-A-Side’s haul road management system will yield proven results:
- Operational dust reductions of 90%+
- Water savings of 95%+
- Safer roads due to improved visibility
- Operational cost savings and efficiencies due to the reduced need for water carts
- Increased productivity through faster cycle times (up to 30% reduction in rolling resistance)
- Less wet-weather delays due to faster road drying times, improved wet-weather trafficability and fewer washouts
- Lower initial construction costs when building new roads
- Operational cost savings through a reduced need for graders and other road maintenance equipment, as well as regular replenishment of surface wearing course material
- Reduction in fuel consumption of 3% (on average)
- Improved tyre life and equipment component life
- Safer haulage conditions due to the reduced likelihood of uncontrolled vehicle movements
- Reduced road roughness, leading to lower maintenance costs for mobile equipment and health and safety benefits for operators