Quarry Basics
Modern quarrying
is a mechanical process involving large,
powerful excavating, transporting and crushing
quarry equipment.
A quarry is a type of open surface working
from which virgin rock or minerals are extracted.
A quarry, which is shallower than other
types of open-pit mines, is generally used
for extracting building materials, such
as dimension stone. Quarries are usually
shallower than other types of open-pit mines.
It is currently estimated that there are
well over 2,000 quarries throughout the
United Kingdom.
Types of rock extracted from quarries include:
- Granite
- Gritstone
- Limestone
- Marble
- Sandstone
- Slate
Rock that has been quarried is referred
to as stone and is used for a variety of
activities including building construction
purposes, building roads and as an industrial
raw material.
The methods used for quarrying the stone
varies according to the purpose the stone
is being quarried for. When the quarried
stone is going to be used as an industrial
raw material, for example when limestone
is used for cement, the rock is shattered.
Explosives are placed in deeply drilled
holes in the rock in order to break the
rock into fragments. These rock fragments
are then further reduced by specialised
quarry equipment in the form of crushers
and sorted into sizes.
A quarrying process known as broaching
or channelling can be used for softer rock
or should the explosives not work. This
process, which was probably used by the
ancient civilisations such as the Incas
and Egyptians, does not involve large quarry
equipment, holes are drilled into the rocks
and then the rock is forced to split by
hammering wedges in the holes.
When a quarry is no longer in use and all
the quarry equipment has been removed, it
is often filled with water and made into
ponds or small lakes.
At N.H. Greaves & Co Ltd we maintain
a constant stock level of over 200 quarry
equipment items such as crushing and screening
equipment at our 3 acre site. We offer a
wide range of machines including the design,
manufacture and installation of waste recycling
/ aggregate and sand / gravel plants. For
further information please contact us on
01709 582381.
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