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Three pan-European extractive minerals organisations have welcomed the publication of the EU’s Communication on the access to raw materials but have warned that the inclusion of commodity markets in the document may dilute the message. The UEPG, IMA-Europe and Cembureau have said that the Communication ‘Tackling the challenges in commodity markets and on raw materials’ places good emphasis on the importance of raw materials. Nonetheless, they believe that sharing the stage with commodities rather than using

Reducing operational costs was one of the main drivers to Hanson investing in a new wheeled loader for its Ribblehead Works site in Clitheroe, UK. The cement works, which is part of the Heidelberg Cement group, has recently taken delivery of a new Volvo L350F loader for front line duties in a bid to improve fuel efficiency. According to Volvo, the 52tonne loader is the 14th machine of this type to have been delivered to a Heidelberg company in Europe. The company has said that the machines have been “chosen

Breedon Aggregates has reported that it has secured two contracts for work on the A9 trunk road in Scotland worth over £6million for the supply and lay aggregates and asphalt. Under one of the contracts Breedon Aggregates will lay the pavement layers on both the existing dual carriageway section and a new three-kilometre extension to the north of the existing dual carriageway at Crubenmore. In all, the company will supply and in part lay over 80,000tonnes of quarry materials and pavement layers to the contr

Latvia-based paving specialist Silverstone has opened a new production facility in Talsi. The new plant will use sand and gravel from the company’s local quarries to produce up to 3000m2 of paving blocks and slabs, curbstones and concrete blocks per day.

Next year's European Minerals Day promises to be even more successful than the inaugural event in 2007, reports Lisa Russell. Quarries across Europe will join forces next spring to tell people about their work and their role in promoting biodiversity through specially arranged events held across the region at the same time. Guided tours, equipment demonstrations and nature projects will be among the hundreds of activities organised as part of an international initiative, European Minerals Day (EMD), which a

Demand for high quality aggregates for road repairs is driving up demand for rail haulage form Welsh quarries, according to haulier DBS. The company has said that the first half of 2010 has been very busy with extra trains being run to take aggregate from Tarmac's Dolyhir Quarry in Powys and artificial aggregate produced at Tarmac's Margam steel works to its new East London terminus in February and March. Aggregate Industries’ train provider Freightliner also reported an upsurge in traffic.

Prepared concrete production was down 42% in the Balearics region of Spain in 2009, with the economic crisis being the main reason given for the drop. Production came to around 829,000m³, according to sector association Anhefhop. In comparison, Spain as a whole saw production drop 28.9% to 48.94 million m³, while turnover came to some €2.80billion. No prediction has been made as to when the sector will start to recover. Anefhop has said that if the government was able to maintain public works tendering at t

Anglo American and Lafarge have signed an agreement that will see their UK operations merged into one business. Under the deal their cement, aggregates, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt and contracting businesses in the UK, comprising Tarmac, Lafarge Cement UK, and Lafarge Aggregates and Concrete UK. The companies will form 50:50 joint venture which will be the UK’s largest construction materials with combined sales in 2010 of £1.8billion. The companies have said that the merger will create synergies of around

French construction materials company Lafarge has merged its Central European cement activities with Strabag, a leading Central and Eastern Europe construction group. The activity will be managed by the newly created Lafarge Cement CE Holding with headquarters in Austria and an annual production capacity of 4.8million tonnes. Lafarge will hold 70% of the new company and Strabag will hold 30%. With this new operation, Lafarge will see its debt reduced by E7.5million. Strabag will contribute cement from its w

Cemex, a cement and concrete producer, has opened a €1.52million ready-mixed concrete factory in York, northern England. The factory will replace a 39-year-old old plant, and the site will be sold. The company says the new fully automated plant, which will be operated by one person, will make it more productive and sustainable, and will produce 60m³ of ready mixed concrete an hour while recycling water.

Germany-based Bunte has announced that it is to invest €4.5million in a new asphalt plant in Georgsheil. Work is due to start on the construction phase in April this year.

Europe’s top performing quarry operators have been put in the spotlight by the UEPG’s 2010 Sustainable Development Awards. Thirty companies from 10 different countries received accolades at the event held in Munich, Germany last night. In the biodiversity category created to celebrate the UN International Year of Bioodiversity, Austria-based Welser Kieswereke Truel won the award for small companies, while the made award had joint winners of Holcim Spain and Germany’s Hülskens Wesel.

On 11 June 2010, the Lafarge quarry in Vimpelles (Seine et Marne), France, will house a ceremony organised by the National Union of Quarries and Construction Materials Industries and by the Environmental Charter for quarries.
Out of 44 members to this charter in the Paris region, 16 quarries will be rewarded for having reached the highest level in the environmental progress schedule that has been put in place. The latter is composed of 80 criteria of which 52 are major environmental indicators.

Cemex’s Israeli subsidiary Lime & Stone Production Company Ltd/Ready Mix Industries has just taken delivery of a new prime mover in a bid to improve productivity at the site. The new Hitachi EX1200-6 excavator was handed over to the quarry – the largest in Israel - in a special ceremony. Together with the customer, local Hitachi dealer CMD organised a receiving party for 150 guests where the excavator was christened with a bottle of Champagne, which was broken by Ytzhak Bejerano, general manager of Cemex in

Increased volumes in the final three months of 2010 have helped Lafarge to record a 9% rise in sales to €3.96billion for the period, while operating income was up 7% to €530million. This final quarter improvement bolstered Lafarge’s full year results with a 2% increase in sales to €16.17billion, compared to 2009, and a 1% fall in operating income at €2.44billion.

Holcim’s Romanian operation has announced that Daniel Bach is to take on the role of managing director from 1 April this year. Bach takes over the post from Markus Wirth.

The largest aggregates quarry in Norway is going full speed ahead on expansion plans, with its owners investing 'a lot of money' to increase production and make it a world-beater. Patrick Smith visited the site. The high-speed ferry from the coastal town of Stavanger in south-west Norway to the equally picturesque village of Jelsa takes about an hour.

Along the route up the Ryfylke Fjord, snow-capped mountains add to the breathtaking scenery, while homes have been built to take full advantage of the vi

Creditor banks of Spanish natural stone producer Levantina, including Prudential, Bank of Ireland and BNP Paribas, have taken over 82% of the company’s capital to avoid administration. The remaining 18% is still in the hands of current shareholders, Charterhouse, Impala and AXA. The shuffling in the shareholding comes following a significant drop in the construction of new houses in Spain. Sales have dropped by half, around €250million.

The European Aggregates Association (UEPG) is calling for more European quarry operators to participate in the upcoming European Minerals Day to promote the good work being undertaken by the industry. The UEPG, in partnership with IMA-Europe and CEMBUREAU, is helping to organise the event which is due to take place between 13 and 15 May this year. The biannual event aims to coordinate a series of public open days across mineral extraction sites in Europe to demonstrate the need for aggregates as well as the

An auction regarding the privatisation of the open cast basalt mining company Kopalnie Odkrywkowe Surowcow Drogowych, which is based in Wilkow, Poland, will be held on 13 July, 2010. The value of the bid security has been set at € 27,854.14 Due to preparations for the Euro 2012 football competition, demand for aggregates that the company produces is expected to be growing.