Features

Marine planning and conservation is a complex topic on all counts. Ian Lamond, of Stephens Scown LLP explains how the European Union is working towards safeguarding the marine environment within the region. The UK has an incredible 18,000 kilometres of coastline, and the seas surrounding these are home to some of the best marine wildlife in Europe. Many important marine species and habitats are protected through a number of interlocking and sometimes overlapping designations.

Safety is a top priority for the European Aggregates Association (UEPG), aiming for working together on continuous improvement of Occupational Health and Safety across Europe, establishing a health and safety culture that focuses on the prevention of accidents.

An upgrade of the existing washing plant at the Draperstown Quarry operated by Creagh Concrete has released four million tonnes of material.

The work at Draperstown Quarry, Northern Ireland, which is operated by Creagh Concrete, has also extended the quarry life by ten years. Creagh Concrete is the largest land-based sand and gravel producer in Northern Ireland.

Its sand and aggregates, produced at various locations, are used in the production of a range of pre-cast products as well as ready-mix concr

Just above Milan, Italy, on the first hill beyond the Padana Plain is the Colle Pedrino limestone quarry. Operated by Italcementi, the world’s fifth largest cement producer, the quarry in the commune of Palazzago, Bergamo, has been active since 1947 and supplies raw material to one of the largest concrete factories in Italy, Calusco d’Adda. As a critical industrial supplier with a major geographical presence, environmental recovery at the quarry has always been a priority.

French contractor and quarry operator Trézence TP has taken delivery of the first Case 1121F wheeled loader sold in France. And it is claimed that the equipment supplied by Case Construction will enable Trézence TP to make savings of €100,000 over three years. The 28tonne machine, complete with its 5m³ bucket, has immediately been put to work in a quarry supplying aggregates to the neighbouring LGV Sud Europe Atlantique (LGV SEA) high-speed rail project near Charente in the west of France. It performs three

An investment in a new sand washing plant has been made by Wopfinger Transportbeton at its Eggendorf site in Lower Austria. The company says that this has resulted in a 60% increase in gravel production, from 135tonnes/hour to 220tonnes/hour. Before the new Evowash sand washing plant was installed Wopfinger says it was working two shifts at Eggendorf to meet the capacity requirements of the ready-mix concrete plant located at the sand and gravel pit. This has now been reduced to one shift “as a result of bo

The quartzite quarry in Austertana in Finnmark, Norway’s northernmost county, is one of the world’s largest. At some 350m above sea level, the quarry is imposing, and it is necessary to carry the quartzite 3km down the hill to the crusher and nearby quay, which is 40m above sea level. The transport road, which among equipment and vehicle suppliers is regarded as the world’s toughest, has a gradient slope upwards of 1:7. Material transport is being handled by three Caterpillar 775G off-road dump trucks that

Aggregates used in concrete have to be strong, hard, and they must also be clean. This means that the products, including sand, should be free of chemicals, clays, and a variety of leached materials. If they are not, they could interact with the concrete and interfere with the way it sets, and this is why many contractors, and indeed job specifications, now demand only clean materials. Patrick Smith reports. Manufacturers of specialist washing systems have risen to the challenges by producing a wide variety

Lafarge is implementing a worldwide initiative to optimise drilling and blasting operations across its 600 sites globally. The initiative aims to reduce costs, increase safety, and lessen the impact on the environment. The potential savings have been estimated at €10-25 million annually. Fragmentation has a large impact on quarry performance at every stage of the drilling, loading, and blasting process. The initiative therefore plans to increase awareness and understanding of fragmentation and implement bes

As up to one million people gather in Rome for Pope Francis’ inauguration mass we head out of the city. The move is not to avoid the crowds, but to drive to a quarry near Anagni, a small and historic medieval town on the ridge of a hill some 475m above sea level and 72km east of the Italian capital. The quarry has invested in a new crushing system, and has drastically reduced truck movements. Patrick Smith reports Built inside powerful Roman boundary walls, Anagni has small twisting streets and steep lanes

Biodiversity is the variety of all life and natural processes on earth, including diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems. But studies suggest that global biodiversity is in grave danger from habitat loss, invasive species, pollution, climate change and over-exploitation, according to a joint position paper on biodiversity from the European Minerals Day (www.mineralsday.eu) partnering organisations. These include Cembureau (the European Cement Association); EuroMetaux (the European Assoc