Displaying items by tag: Limestone
Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos has inaugurated its first unit in Brazil for Viter, its agricultural inputs business, and Verdera, its sustainable waste management business. Located in Itaperuçu, the unit comprises a new Verdera waste crushing plant and an agricultural limestone production line for Viter. This initiative is part of a US$785m investment programme.
Verdera's Itaperuçu facility has a capacity of 48,000t/yr, tripling its previous capability, and is equipped with technology for sustainable waste treatment. The waste processed at the plant will be converted into clean energy for cement production at Votorantim's plant in Rio Branco do Sul, using co-processing technology developed by Votorantim in Brazil in 1991. Viter's new line will increase agricultural limestone production in Paraná. The Itaperuçu plant, along with the existing Rio Branco do Sul unit, brings Viter's total capacity to 1.5Mt/yr of agricultural limestone in Paraná. The new plant features filters for emission control and utilises biomass as a renewable energy source.
US fully adopts portland-limestone cement
04 April 2024US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has commended the Connecticut Department of Transportation's approval of Portland-limestone cement (PLC), marking its acceptance in all US states and the District of Columbia. PLC, with increased limestone content, maintains traditional portland cement's efficacy but reduces CO₂ emissions by up to 10%. The US avoided more than 4Mt of CO₂ emissions in 2023 by using PLC and other blended cements. This achievement coincides with growing cement consumption by state transportation departments, fuelled by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Mike Ireland, president and CEO of PCA, said "This milestone is a huge step forward for sustainable American construction. Switching to PLC promises to save millions of tonnes of CO₂. Using a lower-emission product that meets all the performance requirements of traditional cement means the construction sector can build with durability, safety and sustainability in mind."
Ramco Cements inaugurates Gati Shakti cargo terminal
13 March 2024India: Ramco Cements has inaugurated the Gati Shakti cargo terminal at Jayanthipuram in Andhra Pradesh’s NTR District. The company will use the terminal for rail transport of raw materials over 8.3km from the Budawada limestone mines to its Jayanthipuram cement plant. The route will use electric trains.
The company said “Ramco Cements is glad to be a part of the Dedicated Freight Corridor under the Gati Shakti Mission.”
Uganda: The government has granted a 21-year mining licence to Sunbird Resources to support a cement plant project near the border with Kenya. The licence will allow the local company, which is working with China-based West China Cement, to mine limestone, according to Reuters. The partners intend to build a 1Mt/yr integrated cement plant.
Holcim España's Viver quarries expansion approved
26 February 2024Spain: Holcim España’s Viver quarries have received an Environmental Impact Declaration (EID) to expand from 13.5 to 37.5 hectares. This expansion will enable the company to extract 300,000t/yr of limestone to supply its Sagunto cement plant. The EID will allow the company to continue to operate the quarry until 2054.
Magsort to help decarbonise slag processing at Emirates Steel Arkan's Al Ain Cement plant
20 February 2024UAE: Emirates Steel Arkan has concluded a partnership for the deployment of Finland-based Magsort’s technology in steel slag processing at its Al Ain cement plant. ZAWYA News has reported that the partners expect the technology to help reduce the plant’s limestone and fuel consumption. This will reduce its CO2 emissions by 15%.
Emirates Steel Arkan CEO Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi said "Green solutions such as this will help decarbonise the sector's value chain."
Kenya: Mashujaa Cement plans to build a US$77.4m integrated cement plant at Chasimba, Kilifi South. The Standard newspaper has reported that environmental group Nature Kenya claims that Mashujaa Cement’s environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) for the upcoming plant ‘lacked comprehensive assessments’ of its possible impacts. These include a possible threat to 31 critically endangered local plant species, including Kenya’s endemic African violets, growing on outcrops of the local Kambe Limestone Belt.
Nature Kenya said “The ESIA indicates scientific unfamiliarity as it contains carelessly worded generic statements such as ‘species will be relocated to Arabuko Sokoke forest’, ‘the site is devoid of any eco-sensitive area’ and ‘impact on biodiversity and wildlife is minimal’.”
Uzbek government cuts limestone tax for cement producers
12 January 2024Uzbekistan: The government has reduced the tax on limestone for use as a raw material in cement production. Uzbekistan Newsline has reported that the tax rate has dropped by 73% to US$0.48/t.
Kenya: East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has announced plans to build a new clinker plant in Kajaido. The Nation newspaper has reported that it will cost US$200m to build. EAPCC plans to use local pozzolana, along with limestone and coral transported from Kenya’s Coast Province, in cement production at the plant. The producer says that it will clarify the timeframes of the project in 2024.
ACC secures permit to mine 1.5Mt/yr of limestone at Rajasthan mine
22 November 2023India: ACC has received a renewed licence for its Rajasthan limestone mine, allowing it to increase its extraction of limestone there to 1.5Mt/yr. Local press has reported that the mine presently produces 1Mt/yr of limestone for use at the company’s 1.5Mt/yr Lakheri cement plant in Bundi District.