Displaying items by tag: Quarry

Nepal: Udayapur Cement has started work on an upgrade to its 0.3Mt/yr integrated plant aimed at bringing its capacity to 0.4Mt/yr with an investment of US$92,000 from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies. Republica has reported that the company’s Sindhali mine has resources to supply 200 years’ production. “The company is self-sufficient in all raw materials except coal,” said Nawal Kishor Shah, Udayapur Cement general manager.

Spain: The European Union of Aggregates Producers has granted two Sustainable Development Awards to Brazil’s Votorantim Cimentos for its El Toril quarry restoration plan and cave conservation plan for the Cova Eirós mine, which provided raw materials for clinker produciton at its 0.7Mt/yr integrated Oural plant. Votorantim Cimentos has partnered with the University of Santiago de Compostela to facilitate archaeological study of Cova Eirós, where 50,000-year-old findings have been made. Meanwhile at El Toril, the pit will be filled, levelled and enhanced for fertility so that it may resume its previous use as arable land.

India: JSW Cement has revised its planned expansion to its 14Mt/yr total installed capacity to 39Mt/yr before 1 January 2023, an increase of 5Mt/yr compared to its initial target of 34Mt/yr by 2020. The figure includes JSW’s 54% subsidiary Shiva Cement’s new 1Mt/yr integrated and 1Mt/yr grinding plant, valued at a total of US$112m. Parth Jindal, JSW Cement managing director, said that the figure had been revised upward because Shiva Cement had become self-sufficient in clinker production, freeing the group’s east Indian cement production from ‘volatile import costs.’

Economic Times has reported that Shiva Cement is set to bring its limestone reserves to 100Mt with the acquisition of the Khatkurbahal mine. The company sources its granulated blast furnace slag from the Odisha steel industry. Production of JSW Cement’s flagship product, JSW Portland Slag Cement (PSC), releases CO₂ at a rate of 325kg/Mt compared to between 760kg/Mt and 800kg/Mt for typical Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC).

US: The National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA) has honoured Cemex USA’s ‘exemplary use of environmental controls and systems’ at two quarries with its Environmental Excellence Gold Award. Its Center Hill quarry in Florida won a Community Relations Gold Award. Ten further aggregates operations won Silver or Bronze Awards in the Environmental Excellence or Community Relations categories. “We take pride in stewardship and serving as good neighbours in communities in which we operate and as examples others can emulate,” said Jaime Muguiro, Cemex USA president.

Uganda: The Uganda government’s Committee on Natural Resources suspended pozzolano extraction at quarries in eastern Uganda on 14 November 2019. The Daily Monitor reported the cause of the suspension as pollution of water sources. Speaking at Tororo Cement’s Chemangal quarry, committee chair Kefa Kivanuka said that “The regulatory authorities were negligent,” and that activity at quarries was suspended until the completion of a damage assessment involving committee meetings with cement producers for the review of their pozzolano extraction licences. Besides Tororo Cement, Hima Cement, Kampala Cement and Kenya-based National Cement subsidiary Simba Cement all supply plants with pozzolano extracted in the region.

US: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Lafarge North America’s Presque Isle quarry, which supplies raw limestone to its 2.6Mt/yr Alpena integrated cement plant – both in Michigan – has won the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA)’s Gold Award in the Community Relations Excellence category. Business Wire has reported that it previously won Gold for Environmental Excellence in 2018. In recognition of its consecutive Golds, the NSSGA honoured the quarry with its prestigious Two Stars of Excellence award. LafargeHolcim’s operations in the country extend over 350 sites across 43 states. Its aim is to ‘help build better communities with innovative solutions that deliver structural integrity and eco-efficiency.’

USA: Cemex USA’s 0.9Mt/yr integrated Clinchfield cement plant has received a Sentinels of Safety Award from the National Mining Association, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, US Department of the Interior Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement and Bureau of Land Management for safety and environmental stewardship at its associated quarry. PR Newswire has reported that the plant and quarry operated for a total of 200,000 hours in 2018 without any employee sustaining a lost-time injury (LTI). Cemex USA president Jaime Muguiro said “Our Clinchfield operations serve as a strong example of what we can accomplish with safety as a number one priority.”

Laos: An explosion at a quarry related to a cement plant near Phonemany village, Nam Bak district in Luang Prabang province has killed one person and injured over 20. The nearby village was affected by the blast causing damage to houses and vehicles, according to Radio Free Asia. A villager alleged that the Chinese-owned plant never warned locals of the blasting schedule and that the explosion was larger than usual. Khammany Inthirath, Minister of Energy and Mines, said that the government had sent a team to investigate what happened.

Russia: Eurocement has received nine new Volvo FM 8x4 heavy-duty dump trucks for its Kavkazcement and Maltsovsky Portland Cement plants. The vehicles have a capacity of 32t and include Volvo’s CareTrack telematics system. The cement producer hopes to increase the volumes of limestone it transports from each plant’s quarries by 15%. It has spent Euro1.3m on the new trucks.

Sweden: The Land and Environment Court will hear the dispute over Cementa’s licence to work a limestone quarry near its Slite plant in Gotland on 30 September 2019. The company has stated the supply of stone from the quarry is essential to the existence of the 2.5Mt/yr integrated cement plant. It is seeking to extend the permit, which expires in 2021, to 2041.