A machine capable of munching its way through 600 tonnes of rock-hard Scottish granite an hour has just arrived at Craigenlow quarry, near Aberdeen.

The mobile primary jaw crusher, the biggest of its kind in Scotland, weighs in at 170 tonnes and can crush boulders up to two tonnes in weight and a metre in diameter in its powerful jaws.

Ennstone Thistle Limited has invested around £1.2million in the Metso LT140 crusher and a new Caterpillar loading shovel which together will increase output and minimise the environmental impact at the granite quarry near the village of Dunecht.

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Once the rock has been crushed into more manageable pieces, it is transported along conveyor belts and crushed into smaller aggregates and used in the production of ready mixed concrete and asphalt used for construction projects throughout the region.

The crusher is mobile and can be easily moved around the quarry. Mike Macaulay, north east regional director at Ennstone Thistle, believes crushing rock at the quarry face makes a real difference when compared to older quarrying techniques and is a more efficient and environmentally friendly.

He said: “In the old days we would move large rocks, long distances using dumper trucks. Now we blast the rock and feed it directly in to the crusher and move it by conveyor. This cuts down on noise and dust levels and allows us to process more materials so we can keep up with the growing local demand for construction materials."

Ennstone Thistle Limited operates 16 quarries across northern Scotland from the West Highlands to Ullapool, Peterhead and Fife. The company recently acquired the Netherglen quarry near Elgin for £2 million with up to nine million tonnes of mineral reserves.

(CD)