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Strabag is reported to have struck a deal with Lafarge Cement to acquire a 30% stake in the company’s Austrian business. In return, Lafarge will take a 70% shareholding in Strabag’s Hungary-based Nostra Cement business. The plan has been presented to the Austrian competition authority for approval.

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.

Heidelberg Cement is reported to be working to cut its net debt from €9.1billion to €8billion by the end of the year, according to a report in the German financial press. Heidelberg CEO Bernd Scheifele is reported to have said that he expects the company to generate a strong free cash flow in 2010 despite inflow of liquidity still being negative in H1 2010.

Local opposition has led to Lafarge’s plans to extend its Thorée-les-Pins quarry in France being rejected. The local council turned down the plans with 11 votes to one, however the mayor has said that he wants to pursue a study to assess the project’s interest for the local area.

UK-based Raymond Brown Minerals and Recycling has just taken delivery of two new Volvo wheeled loaders in a bid to boost its recycling productivity. The L60F and L90F join an existing fleet of 12 loaders already in use at the company’s operations. The new L90F has been deployed to the company’s site at Nursling, near Southampton and will play a key role at the facility as operation of a newly installed concrete batching plant is ramped up. The machine will be used mainly for handling incoming material for r

Cemex has announced that it has completed a study of 543 of its sites as part of a biodiversity scoping study undertaken as part of its 10 year agreement with BirdLife International. The company said that the objective of the study is to facilitate a process that aims to enhance biodiversity conservation and development throughout Cemex’s operations. The process was designed to contemplate that all operational sites that overlap with areas of high conservation value will develop or strengthen biodiversity a

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.

New crushing and screening equipment valued at €189million is to be acquired to improve operations at XXI Vek Development’s quarry at Bratsky in Karelia, Russia. The investment will take capacity up to 4.5million m3 per year. The quarry operator is currently holding a closed tender for the scheme.

Systematic improvements in health and safety made by Cemex Kies and Splitt in Germany have secured a special award from Sicherheitsfachleute der Berufsgenossenschaft Rohstoffe und chemische Industrie (BG RCI). The company underwent a voluntary inspection by the independent safety specialist of BG RCI which is the professional association of raw materials and chemical industry.

Cemex France has announced that it is to upgrade its ready mixed concrete trucks and other fleet in a bid to improve safety. Under the plan more than a 1000 vehicles will be fitted with additional mirrors and rear view safety cameras to reduce blind spots. The company has said this will improve safety both on site and during transport of material to construction sites.

Lafarge is celebrating achieving a milestone in its environmental improvement plans with its quarry in Montricoux becoming its 50th in France to achieve accreditation with UNICEM. The site – Lafarge’s first in the Midi-Pyrénées region – has attained the fourth stage of the environmental accreditation system administrated by the French quarry and building materials association UNICEM. Efforts to improve environmental protection and biodiversity contributed to the award.

Cone crushers are now accepted technology but in the 1920s the Symons Brothers innovation was an unknown quantity, although an enduring one with some original units still in use. Claire Symes reports. Metso Minerals unveiled its latest HP5 cone crusher at ConExpo in March but alongside it was its ancestor - a 1934 Nordberg cone crusher. Until six months ago the machine was part of a 500tonnes per hour plant at the John S Lane Quarry in Springfield, Massachusetts, US and is still in full working order. The u

Delivery of three new Sandvik QJ340 tracked jaw crushers a QE340 screen and a QE140 scalper is expected to boost productivity for contractor BP Mitchell. Mitchell provides a wide range of services to the construction sector and is aiming to boost its crushing and screening capabilities with the latest investment.

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.

Promoting sustainable development is an important issue for the aggregates sector and the UEPG is helping to find methods to benchmark and promote awareness of these capabilities

Growing environmental awareness means that strategies to promote sustainable development are high on the agenda of most businesses in Europe. The quarrying sector is no exception and the European Aggregates Association (UEPG) has been working with the European Commission to help benchmark sustainability.

The EC launched its S

Judith Merkies MEP and supported by Commission vice-president Antonio Tajani and Herbert Reul MEP helped to officially launch the 2011 edition of European Minerals Day at an event in Brussels last night. The MEPs gathered with the EMD partners at the event to promote the weekend of events that will take place from 13 to 15 May across Europe. The aim is to promote awareness of the need for minerals with local communities and to underline the efforts made by the industry to protect the environment and improve

Recycling capabilities of UK-based WSR Recycling have been boosted following delivery of a new track mounted Terex Finlay 883 Reclaimer. The company is currently being used to process and screen green waste, including mechanical street sweepings, producing compost and soil improver suitable for use in landscaping.

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.