Quarry

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A quarry at Carrara in Tuscany, Italy Carrara-panorama delle cave4.jpg
A quarry at Carrara in Tuscany, Italy
A Portland stone quarry on the Isle of Portland, England PortlandQuarry.jpg
A Portland stone quarry on the Isle of Portland, England
An abandoned construction aggregate quarry near Adelaide, South Australia Stone quarry adelaide.JPG
An abandoned construction aggregate quarry near Adelaide, South Australia
An abandoned stone quarry in Kerala, India Stone Quarry Kerala.JPG
An abandoned stone quarry in Kerala, India
Stone quarry in Soignies, Hainaut (province), Belgium 0 Carrieres du Hainaut a Soignies (2).JPG
Stone quarry in Soignies, Hainaut (province), Belgium
Matera quarry in [[]], Italy Cava Matera Inerti.png
Matera quarry in [[]], Italy
Donnerkuhle Quarry, near Hagen, Germany Hagen, Steinbruch Donnerkuhle (3).jpg
Donnerkuhle Quarry, near Hagen, Germany
Prospect Quarry gap in Sydney, Australia Prospect Quarry.jpg
Prospect Quarry gap in Sydney, Australia

A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safety risks and reduce their environmental impact. [1] [2]

Contents

The word quarry can also include the underground quarrying for stone, such as Bath stone.

History

For thousands of years, only hand tools had been used in quarries. In the eighteenth century, the use of drilling and blasting operations was mastered. [3]

Types of rock

Types of rock extracted from quarries include:

Dimension Stone QuarryUSGOV.jpg
Marmo z08.JPG

Methods of quarrying

The method of removal of stones from their natural bed by using different operations is called quarrying. Methods of quarrying include:

Following steps are used in the blasting process;

Slabs

Many quarry stones such as marble, granite, limestone, and sandstone are cut into larger slabs and removed from the quarry. The surfaces are polished and finished with varying degrees of sheen or luster. Polished slabs are often cut into tiles or countertops and installed in many kinds of residential and commercial properties. Natural stone quarried from the earth is often considered a luxury and tends to be a highly durable surface, thus highly desirable.

Problems

Extraction work in a marble quarry in Carrara, Italy Carrara 12.JPG
Extraction work in a marble quarry in Carrara, Italy

Quarries in level areas with shallow groundwater or which are located close to surface water often have engineering problems with drainage. Generally the water is removed by pumping while the quarry is operational, but for high inflows more complex approaches may be required. For example, the Coquina quarry is excavated to more than 60 feet (18 m) below sea level.

To reduce surface leakage, a moat lined with clay was constructed around the entire quarry. Groundwater entering the pit is pumped up into the moat. As a quarry becomes deeper, water inflows generally increase and it also becomes more expensive to lift the water higher during removal; this can become the limiting factor in quarry depth. Some water-filled quarries are worked from beneath the water, by dredging.

Many people and municipalities consider quarries to be eyesores and require various abatement methods to address problems with noise, dust, and appearance. One of the more effective and famous examples of successful quarry restoration is Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. [4]

A further problem is pollution of roads from trucks leaving the quarries. To control and restrain the pollution of public roads, wheel washing systems are becoming more common.

Quarry lakes

Many quarries naturally fill with water after abandonment and become lakes. Others are made into landfills.

Water-filled quarries can be very deep, often 50 ft (15 m) or more, and surprisingly cold, so swimming in quarry lakes is generally not recommended. Unexpectedly cold water can cause a swimmer's muscles to suddenly weaken; it can also cause shock and even hypothermia. [5] Though quarry water is often very clear, submerged quarry stones, abandoned equipment, dead animals and strong currents make diving into these quarries extremely dangerous. Several people drown in quarries each year. [6] [7] However, many inactive quarries are converted into safe swimming sites. [8] [9]

Such lakes, even lakes within active quarries, can provide important habitat for animals. [10]

Rummu karjaar1.jpg
An abandoned limestone quarry in Rummu, Estonia

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mining</span> Extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth

Mining is the extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or feasibly created artificially in a laboratory or factory. Ores recovered by mining include metals, coal, oil shale, gemstones, limestone, chalk, dimension stone, rock salt, potash, gravel, and clay. The ore must be a rock or mineral that contains valuable constituent, can be extracted or mined and sold for profit. Mining in a wider sense includes extraction of any non-renewable resource such as petroleum, natural gas, or even water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aquifer</span> Underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock

An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials. Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology. Related terms include aquitard, which is a bed of low permeability along an aquifer, and aquiclude, which is a solid, impermeable area underlying or overlying an aquifer, the pressure of which could lead to the formation of a confined aquifer. The classification of aquifers is as follows: Saturated versus unsaturated; aquifers versus aquitards; confined versus unconfined; isotropic versus anisotropic; porous, karst, or fractured; transboundary aquifer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Underground hard-rock mining</span> Mining techniques used to excavate hard minerals and gems

Underground hard-rock mining refers to various underground mining techniques used to excavate "hard" minerals, usually those containing metals, such as ore containing gold, silver, iron, copper, zinc, nickel, tin, and lead. It also involves the same techniques used to excavate ores of gems, such as diamonds and rubies. Soft-rock mining refers to the excavation of softer minerals, such as salt, coal, and oil sands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gravel</span> Mix of crumbled stones: grain size range between 2 – 63 mm according to ISO 14688

Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentary and erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open-pit mining</span> Surface mining technique

Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock or minerals from the earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gravel pit</span> Open-pit mine for the extraction of gravel

A gravel pit is an open-pit mine for the extraction of gravel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Land rehabilitation</span> Part of environmental remediation

Land rehabilitation as a part of environmental remediation is the process of returning the land in a given area to some degree of its former state, after some process has resulted in its damage. Many projects and developments will result in the land becoming degraded, for example mining, farming and forestry. It is crucial that governments and businesses act proactively by working on improvement, lay out rehabilitation standards and ensure that decisions on mediation should be based around value judgment for higher sustainability in the future.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mining engineering</span> Engineering discipline

Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, metallurgy, geotechnical engineering and surveying. A mining engineer may manage any phase of mining operations, from exploration and discovery of the mineral resources, through feasibility study, mine design, development of plans, production and operations to mine closure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tunnel boring machine</span> Device used to excavate tunnels

A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole" or a "worm", is a machine used to excavate tunnels. Tunnels are excavated through hard rock, wet or dry soil, or sand, each of which requires specialized technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drilling rig</span> Integrated system to drill wells

A drilling rig is an integrated system that drills wells, such as oil or water wells, or holes for piling and other construction purposes, into the earth's subsurface. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to drill water wells, oil wells, or natural gas extraction wells, or they can be small enough to be moved manually by one person and such are called augers. Drilling rigs can sample subsurface mineral deposits, test rock, soil and groundwater physical properties, and also can be used to install sub-surface fabrications, such as underground utilities, instrumentation, tunnels or wells. Drilling rigs can be mobile equipment mounted on trucks, tracks or trailers, or more permanent land or marine-based structures. The term "rig" therefore generally refers to the complex equipment that is used to penetrate the surface of the Earth's crust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borehole mining</span>

Borehole Mining (BHM) is a remote operated method of extraction (mining) of mineral resources through boreholes based on in-situ conversion of ores into a mobile form (slurry) by means of high pressure water jetting (hydraulicking). This process is carried-out from a land surface, open pit floor, underground mine or floating vessel through pre-drilled boreholes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surface mining</span> Type of mining in which the soil/rock above mineral deposits is removed

Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in which the overlying rock is left in place, and the mineral is removed through shafts or tunnels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drilling and blasting</span> Excavation method using explosives

Drilling and blasting is the controlled use of explosives and other methods, such as gas pressure blasting pyrotechnics, to break rock for excavation. It is practiced most often in mining, quarrying and civil engineering such as dam, tunnel or road construction. The result of rock blasting is often known as a rock cut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Construction aggregate</span> Coarse to fine grain rock materials used in concrete

Construction aggregate, or simply aggregate, is a broad category of coarse- to medium-grained particulate material used in construction. Traditionally, it includes natural materials such as sand, gravel, crushed stone. As with other types of aggregates, it is a component of composite materials, particularly concrete and asphalt. Aggregates are the most mined materials in the world, being a significant part of 6 billion tons of concrete produced per year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drifter drill</span> Hydraulic or pneumatic powered rock or ground drill

A drifter drill, sometimes called a rock drill, is a tool used in mining and civil engineering to drill into rock. Rock drills are used for making holes for placing dynamite or other explosives in rock blasting, and holes for plug and feather quarrying.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deep foundation</span> Type of foundation

A deep foundation is a type of foundation that transfers building loads to the earth farther down from the surface than a shallow foundation does to a subsurface layer or a range of depths. A pile or piling is a vertical structural element of a deep foundation, driven or drilled deep into the ground at the building site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of mining</span> Overview of and topical guide to mining

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to mining:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Down-the-hole drill</span> Jackhammer-like tip for drilling deep into rock

A down-the-hole drill, usually called DTH by most professionals, is basically a jackhammer screwed on the bottom of a drill string. The fast hammer action breaks hard rock into small cuttings and dust that are evacuated by a fluid. The DTH hammer is one of the fastest ways to drill hard rock. The system is thought to have been invented independently by Stenuick Frères in Belgium and Ingersoll Rand in the USA in the mid-1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoping</span> Process of extracting mineral from an underground mine

Stoping is the process of extracting the desired ore or other mineral from an underground mine, leaving behind an open space known as a stope. Stoping is used when the country rock is sufficiently strong not to collapse into the stope, although in most cases artificial support is also provided.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digging</span> Removal of material from a solid surface

Digging, also referred to as excavation, is the process of using some implement such as claws, hands, manual tools or heavy equipment, to remove material from a solid surface, usually soil, sand or rock on the surface of Earth. Digging is actually the combination of two processes, the first being the breaking or cutting of the surface, and the second being the removal and relocation of the material found there. In a simple digging situation, this may be accomplished in a single motion, with the digging implement being used to break the surface and immediately fling the material away from the hole or other structure being dug.

References

  1. "Law Document English View". Ontario.ca. 2014-07-24. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  2. US EPA, OW (2014-03-10). "Mineral Mining and Processing Effluent Guidelines". US EPA. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  3. Raymond Perrier: Les roches ornementales. Ternay (Edition Pro Roc) 2004, ISBN   2-9508992-6-9, p. 443–447.
  4. "BCMEMPR, BCMTH, and NRC. (1995). Reclamation and Environmental Protection Handbook for Sand, Gravel and Quarry Operations in British Columbia. British Columbia Ministry of Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources Ministry of Transportation and Highways Natural Resources Canada" (PDF).
  5. "American Canoe Association explanation of cold shock". Enter.net. Archived from the original on 2012-06-16. Retrieved 2012-05-14.
  6. "US Dept. of Labor list of mine related fatalities". Msha.gov. Archived from the original on 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2012-05-14.
  7. "on quarry drownings". Geology.com. 2007-11-03. Retrieved 2012-05-14.
  8. "Centennial Beach - History". www.centennialbeach.org. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  9. "City of Coral Gables - Venetian Pool". www.coralgables.com. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  10. Sievers, Michael (19 May 2017). "Sand quarry wetlands provide high-quality habitat for native amphibians". Web Ecology. 17 (1): 19–27. doi: 10.5194/we-17-19-2017 . hdl: 10072/411143 .

S.K Duggal "Building Materials" (2003) 3rd revised edition Quarries