Quarries in Sharjah

Quarries are abundant sources of building, construction and landscaping materials such as rock and stone. Companies that have expertise in quarry operations and stone crushing field provide a large range of fine aggregates, ballast and sub-ballast, capillary breaker and pervious backfill, crushed rock, drainage and filter material, dust and sand, marine material, pipe surround, rockery stones and landscaping stones, rip-rap and gabion rocks as well as sub-base, road base and wet mix materials.

Quarries produce sand, gravel and crushed rock for construction based applications. These materials are also known as aggregates. Some prime minerals extracted by underground mining are gypsum, salt and potassium. Quarries also produce coal, chemical grade limestone, gypsum, common clays, china clay, ball clay and silica sand. They supply raw materials to industrial power plants, construction sites and manufacturing industries. These materials can be used to create ready-mix concrete, coating paints, asphalt, bitumen, cement and lime burning kilns. Quarry extracts are also used in the creation of concrete blocks, pipe works, brickworks, pottery and plasterboard manufacturing. Surface mines play an important role in our everyday lives as they provide raw materials for construction operations. Some quarry extracts provide vital minerals for agricultural applications and electricity generation.

Most quarry stones such as marble, granite, limestone and sandstone are cut into larger slabs and are removed from the quarry. These slabs are further polished and finished with different degrees of sheen or lustre. Stone slabs are further cut into tiles or counter tops and are used for commercial, industrial and household applications. The natural stone which is quarried from the earth is known for its glamour and is often considered as a luxury item. Excavations which are present in shallow water areas need to be properly designed as they are more prone to flooding applications as well. Engineers pump out the water using a vacuum pump and install dewatering plants to drain water accumulated in the quarry. They attach a moat lined clay around the entire site to prevent water inundation and water seepage. This process will eliminate additional cost involved in removing inundated groundwater. Companies which provide quarrying services also provide clay pit mining, coal mining, fossil collection, mineral collection, mountaintop removal mining and opencast mining.

There are four types of stone quarrying which include open pits, underground mining, boulder quarries and aggregate quarries. One of the oldest stones which are extracted is dimension stone. This stone is increasingly used through the centuries due to their solid design and is commonly used to carve and design statues and fountains. They are also used in paving roads and manufacturing curbing. Dimension stone is also used for electrical switchboards and blackboards. Another popular Quarried material is the stone aggregate. Stone aggregates are produced by crushing rocks of different sizes in specific patterns. They are widely used in breakwaters, riprap, road foundation, chicken grit, antacids and other similar uses. Old stone quarries produce a large number of aggregates rather than dimensional stone. Some popular locations to find quarries in Sharjah are SAIF zone, King Faisal road, Rolla, Airport road, Industrial area 11, Corniche, Industrial area 3 and Industrial area 14.