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Quarries and Landfills in the past have received only bad press and sometimes rightly so. Some rogue operators have ignored conditions and run roughshod over guidelines.
With the Environmental Protection Act coming into force these operators are being forced out of the industry and they are being replaced by operators who understand the need to work in with the community and allay their fears while providing many of the basic materials needed for industries.
Many people follow the “Not in my backyard” attitude without ever stopping to think about the need for quarries and the products they can provide.
Below are some of the uses that Extractive Industry products are found in
- Road Base Materials so that motorists have all weather roads
- Sand for concrete and children’s sand pits
- Aggregates for concrete for house foundations, driveways and pools
- Aggregates for drainage behind retaining walls, pipelaying, driveways
- Aggregates for Railway Ballast, bridges
- Tiles and pavers for flooring
- Coal for Electricity and burning for heat
- Marble flooring and benchtops, granite benchtops
- All metals are extracted from ores removed from the ground.
- Iron for steel tables, roofing, stainless bench tops
- Copper for electrical wiring
- Tin, Nickel, Lead, Gold, Silver, Brass for ornaments, jewellery, door and bathroom knobs
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Aggregate use equates to 7 tonnes per person, per year |
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400000 tonnes per year from quarries within 100km of cities and towns are needed for shelter and infrastructure |
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Typical house uses approx 60 tonnes of aggregate in construction and about 100 tonnes with driveway and yard. |
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Annual production of aggregates for building and construction was an estimated $ 130 million tonnes in 2000 |
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The value of ex-quarry aggregate was an estimated $ 1.3 billion in 2000 |
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Australian quarries directly employ over 7000 people in over 2212 quarries |
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25% of the quarries produce 75% of the total aggregates |
Quarry Magazine December 2003
Quarries allow our importers and exporters to get their goods to market on an all weather, safe and efficient network of roads, rail and ports and provide the community with the construction materials for new homes, schools, libraries and hospitals.
They not only provide construction materials but also post closure uses such as parklands, sporting facilities, housing, car parks, tourist parks and entertainment facilities. |
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