What is quarrying and why do we need it?
Quarry products are often collectively referred to as aggregates. Aggregates are used in composite materials such as concrete, asphalt, masonry products, bricks and bituminous road surfacing, or on their own such as road base.
Aggregates are essential to our economic prosperity and are the foundation of our built environment. They are crucial in the building of our homes, roads, railways, schools, hospitals, and other types of other essential urban infrastructure.
The quarrying industry is a significant part of South Australia's resources sector, which collectively contributed over $9.5 billion in direct and indirect spending to the state's economy in the 2023-24 financial year. This sector supports vital jobs, local suppliers, and public infrastructure projects, and has shown a 61.4% economic uplift over the past five years.
Each year, the building and construction industry needs more than 200 million tonnes of quarry materials.
Aggregates are also used for rail ballast, drainage media, landscaping purposes, and larger sized rock such as gabion and revetment stone for erosion, scour protection and construction of retaining walls.
Ideally quarrying needs to be carried out close to where these materials will be used. This keeps transportation costs low, reduces environmental emissions, reduces traffic congestion and helps keep building costs down in local communities. Road transport distance and cost represents around 35% of the delivered costs of aggregates.
Quarries usually coexist with local communities and are bound by stringent planning and operating conditions to minimise their impact.
The Quarrying Process
The quarrying process begins with clearing vegetation and stripping topsoil/ overburden. Once the site is cleared, drilling and blasting will be carried out to break the underlying rock, creating the required quarry benches.
After blasting, the raw material is extracted and loaded from the pit floor onto haul trucks. These trucks will transport the material to the permanent plant and stockpile area located in the eastern section of the site.
Any larger rock fragments will typically be broken down using a rock breaker before being loaded onto trucks. The load and haul fleet will generally operate continuously during quarry working hours to ensure a steady supply of material for processing.
Crushing and Processing
The crushing stage involves multiple crushers, including a jaw crusher, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary crushers, along with vibratory screens. The crushed material is then stockpiled for further handling.
Material Loading and Transport
Once stockpiled, quarry materials are loaded by front-end loaders onto road haulage trucks. These trucks proceed across the weighbridge, pass through the wheel wash to remove dust and debris and then exit the site for dispatch.
