WHAT IS QUARRYING? A COMPREHENSIVE BREAKDOWN

Quarrying is the process of removing or extracting rock, sand, gravel or other minerals from the earth in order to use them to produce materials for construction or other uses. Other names for quarries might be pits, open mines, or surface mines.

The materials which we produce by quarrying are essential to our everyday lives. Construction is a vital part of the world and our advancements and through quarrying we are providing the materials to support this. We need to build roads, hospitals, schools and infrastructure in order to live well, do business and travel.

Furthermore, this industry provides employment to the talented men and women that operate our quarries.

A common misconception in the world of aggregates is the mix up between quarrying and mining. These are actually two very different processes. Both incorporate the extraction of different materials; however both have different methods and use different tools and machines for their jobs. A quarry produces aggregates such as sand, gravel and stone, whereas mining produces various metals, coals, gemstones and minerals.

Another difference between the two is an open pit versus a closed pit. Mining refers to digging up stone and minerals deep down under the surface, while quarrying occurs above ground in an open land or water surface.

In Ontario, Brock Aggregates owns and operates pits in Myrtle, Orangeville, Sunderland, Tottenham, Stouffville, Zephyr & Whitby. We produce approximately 750,000 MT per year. To order the sand, stone or gravel for your project needs, call Brock Aggregates today!