Quarry Products

Preparation for restoration gets underway as extraction of material at Cemex's Longham Quarry nears completion. After 12 years and production of over 1.8million tonnes of sand and gravel, the life of Longham Quarry in Dorset, UK as an active gravel pit is nearing its end. Once the final aggregates have been processed, the site is destined to be reprofiled to form a 1.4million cubic metre reservoir. Quarry operator Cemex is currently using its Case CX210B excavator to stockpile the sand and gravel from

Construction work for tunnels on the new Turin-Lyon rail project is expected to create 18.4million m3 of waste rock, which is expected to be processed for use as aggregates. It is estimated that around half of the aggregates will be reused in the construction of the tunnel linings and another 5million m3 will be used on other elements of the project. The remainder of the material will be sold into the construction market.

New construction projects in the north east of the UK are set to increase demand for ready mixed concrete and Tarmac is reported to be considering re-opening a moth-balled plant to meet this demand. The company is said to be looking at the possibility to resume operation of its concrete plant near Blythe in Northumberland, which was closed in 2008.

Strabag has strengthened its aggregates supply chain with the acquisition of the Germany-based building materials company Gaul. Gaul is the market leader in crushed stone, gravel, sand, asphalt and concrete in the areas of Frankfurt and Wiesbaden in Germany and has 10 sand and gravel pits and two quarries.

Cemex has announced that it is one of the main concrete suppliers for the construction of the Gaoyin 117 project in Tianjin, China, which, upon completion, will be one of the tallest buildings in Asia. So far, the company has supplied nearly 95,000m3 of concrete for the underground engineering of the project. The 598m tall building will call for over 500,000m3 of ready mixed concrete to build the 117 storey tower. Construction work began in 2008 and will take five to seven years to complete. Cemex is the ma

It is reported that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering investing in Lafarge Aggregates Eastern Europe. Under the deal, the bank would grant €100million to the company and become a shareholder in the business in return. Lafarge is looking to invest the money in acquisition of new assets in the aggregates and concrete sectors. The bank is expected to decide on the loan in mid-December.

Cemex has reported that its sales in the third quarter of 2010 were down 2% from the same period in 2009 to US$3.8billion. EBITDA also fell by 13% to US$649million during the period, which the company has attributed to lower performance in the US and Europe. Consolidated cement sales volumes increased by 2% during the third quarter of 2010 compared with the same period in 2009, while ready-mix and aggregates sales volumes both decreased 3%.

Supply of sand and gravel to the south east of the UK will soon be boosted following installation of a new conveyor bridge at Cemex’s Bramhill Quarry in Hampshire. The new21.6m long bridge is part of a £1.2million project to open up access to 1.2million tonnes of reserves at the quarry and will carry material over a main road to the processing plant.