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PF Formation to expand Maroota operation with investment in new CDE solution

04 August 2021

Family owned and operated business PF Formation, headquartered in Maroota, New South Wales, has announced a multi-million-dollar investment in a new sand washing solution from CDE. 

The third-generation family business was established in 1956 by company founder Glen Graham. In 1983, Mr Graham’s two sons, John and Paul Graham, took over the family enterprise and ushered in a new era of growth as PF Formation commenced sand extraction in the Maroota area. 


Today, John’s sons, Joshua and Luke Graham, manage the business and have partnered with CDE to commission a new turnkey wet processing solution to enable the business to boost capacity and product specification in response to growing demand in the Sydney market. 

When commissioned, the 400 tons per hour solution will process a friable sandstone and tertiary sand raw feed material, two distinct sand types found in the Maroota area. 

While friable sandstone is typically used as a bricklaying sand, Maroota tertiary sand is mainly used in concrete products such as the manufacture of bricks, pavers, masonry blocks, concrete pipes, and roof tiles. 


The solution will feature CFCU technology to offer greater control over sand classification and provide complete flexibility for the production of various end products, including a high-quality concrete sand with a specification of less than 6% by volume sand and attrition cell bypass sand for brickies loam and pipe bedding. 

CDE Business Development Manager Jason Hartmann says it’s impressive how the team at PF Formation have engineered their own wash plants over the years. 

“We were impressed to learn that Luke and his father have each built a wash plant for the family business, plants that have supported it on its journey to becoming the lean and profitable operation it is today.”


He says CDE technology will facilitate the growth of the family business over the next 20 years. 

“Those plants played a very important role for the business over the past two decades, but as demand continues to outstrip supply it becomes even more important to ensure the plants are running at optimal efficiency to retain every last grain of sand. Working alongside Joshua and Luke at PF Formation, we have engineered such a solution to maximise the quality and quantity of its product range for years to come.” 


Luke Graham says he first encountered CDE at ConExpo in 2020 and was impressed by the company’s equipment range.

“In the world of wash plants, CDE’s looked like a Ferrari. I remember thinking, ‘this is a really impressive piece of engineering.’ But, beyond its appearance, it gets the job done. When you looked under the hood you gained insight into the precision and efficiency of CDE technology.”


Joshua Graham says initial conversations concerned only upgrades to the company’s existing plant. 

“It all started out with a CDE EvoWash™ to feed our existing wash plant, but after the discussions, the site visits, and the tests on our material it was clear that this was an investment that would offer us fast return and significant long-term gains, especially with respect to efficiency and durability.” 

He says CDE’s commitment to engineering a solution tailored specifically to the needs of the business was evident from the outset. 

“We had the opportunity to visit a number of CDE reference sites across Australia, where we could see first-hand this technology in action, and it worked beautifully. Our whirlwind tour began in Sydney, then to Adelaide and ending in Whyalla.  Jason did a good job at convincing us that the quality and standard of the CDE equipment was second to none. We could really see the potential of this technology when applied to our operation in Maroota.” 

He adds PF Formation is a proud family business and that CDE showed great pride as a future representative of the brand. 

“We have ambitious aims, and it was clear Jason and the whole team at CDE were the right people to support us in that regard. The team spoke very highly about the brand, recognising in us the company values that we hold dear. It made us feel like this was a partnership both parties could be very proud of.” 


CDE is expected to commission the new plant in Maroota, New South Wales, in late 2022. 

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