Displaying items by tag: Quarry

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has welcomed expanded, comprehensive Covid-19 safety guidance from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). The association said that the guidance is a valuable and flexible resource for cement facilities facing the shifting effects of the Covid-19 threat. Plants have successfully relied on the advice of the MSHA, Centers for Disease Control and Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

PCA government affairs senior vice president Sean O’Neill said, “Protecting our workforce during the Covid-19 emergency has been job number one for US cement manufacturers. The men and women of the cement industry, from our quarries to our cement plants and shipping operations, are designated as Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers. PCA and its member companies are committed to protecting miners and their families while continuing to provide critical building materials needed to maintain and improve our nation’s vital infrastructure.”

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos has announced plans to upgrade cement production at its 0.2Mt/yr integrated Corumbá cement plant in Mato Grosso do Sul. The Correio de Corumbá newspaper has reported the value of the planned work as US$2.85m. The investment is intended to improve the plant’s grinding line, modernise an electrical substation system, make changes to its mining operations and generally focus on optimising energy consumption. It also plans to train employees and work on community outreach activities.

Lebanon: Cimenterie Nationale has announced that it will dispatch its last batch of cement for the foreseeable future on 6 March 2021. The L’Orient-Le Jour newspaper has reported the cause for the stoppage as the exhaustion of stocks of raw materials. The Lebanese government suspended access by cement producers to their quarries in October 2020. The nation’s three cement companies are permitted only to produce cement using clinker or limestone from existing stockpiles.

The company currently has 700 employees. It said that 3500 other jobs depend indirectly on its activities.

US: Germany-based HeidelbergCement subsidiary Lehigh Cement has taken legal action against the Santa Clara county planning and development director over processing delays to the company’s planning applications. The Los Altos Town Crier newspaper has reported that the producer plans to fill in an open-pit aggregates mine, to open a second mine and to cut through a natural ridge near to its integrated Permanente cement plant near Cupertino in California. The plans constitute an amendment to a plan previously approved in 2012 .

The company says that it has ‘exhausted available administrative remedies’ against the local government office. It said that the rights it seeks to exercise are not subject to permits. It added that the director deemed the application complete in 2019, before requiring additional processing steps.

Chile: Melón has signed an electricity supply contract with Enel Generación. The contract covers the supply for its La Calera, Puerto Montt and Ventanas cement plants, and its San Bernardo aggregates quarry, until 2043, according to the La Tercera newspaper. All energy supplied under the contract will come from renewable sources. There is also the possibility of expanding the scope of the contract.

General Manager Iván Marinado said, “Our commitment to the sustainability of our operations is permanent. We have state-of-the-art technologies, we work together with our carriers in programmes to reduce logistical impact and energy efficiency, and we have a solid co-processing strategy for the use of alternative fuels (AF) and raw materials. Today we are happy to take a new step and start the use of renewable energies, as a concrete and effective example of our concern to contribute to the environmental improvement of the localities where we operate.”

Colombia: The Regional Autonomous Corporation of Antioquia (CorAntioquia) approved the modification of the environmental license of Cemex Colombia’s upcoming 1.0Mt/yr Cementera del Magdelena Medio integrated cement plant in Maceo, Antioquia. The modification will allow for the production of up to 1.5Mt/yr of cement annually. It will additionally enable the company to extract up to 990,000t/yr of limestone and clay. The producer called the authorisation an ‘important step’ towards the plant’s completion.

Cemex Colombia and Peru president Alejandro Ramírez said, "The modification of the environmental licence is a milestone that allows us to resume work to make this project a reality, through which it is expected that we will offer our materials for infrastructure and housing works in the country more efficiently."

UK: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Hanson has announced a planned 80ha expansion of its Ouse Fen nature reserve partnership project with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in Cambridgeshire. The company says the additional restored land from its Needingworth quarry will increase the area of the reserve to 298ha.

Unit manager Hilton Law said, “The Ouse Fen reserve is an outstanding example of minerals extraction leading to habitat creation on a landscape scale and highlights the benefits that managing the land left behind from quarrying can make in shaping and improving habitats for wildlife. We are proud to support the RSPB, Cambridgeshire County Council and others involved in the project, which will make an invaluable contribution to achieving UK biodiversity targets and securing the future of important wildlife habitats and species.”

The reserve is a home to marsh harriers, bitterns and bearded tits, in addition to otters and water voles.

France: Mexico-based Cemex has sold 24 concrete plants and an aggregates quarry in southeast France to Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim. Finalisation of the deal is expected in April 2021 and no approval by competition bodies is required. No value for the sale has been disclosed. The group said that the divestment is part of its strategy of focused portfolio development into high-growth markets.

India: Meghalaya Cement, Star Cement and Amrit Cement have been accused of illegally mining 1.8Mt of limestone in Meghalaya between 2013 and 2018. The Northeast Now newspaper has reported that the companies mined the limestone in a tribal area of the state without environmental, forest or wildlife clearance or No Objection Certificates (NOCs). Local cement producers also allegedly owe the state government around US$40m in related limestone mining licence fees. All three cement producers reportedly made donations to a local political party.

The state government is also investigating allegations that two of the cement producers have polluted two local rivers, Wah Lukha and Wah Lunar. The former river allegedly turned ‘deep blue’ due to pollution.

Switzerland: The Federal Council has noted a report stating that, without extensions to raw material extraction licences, domestic cement production is set to decline by 36% from 2024. The Agence Télégraphique Suisse has reported that local producers are already restricted by limited legally available limestone and marl reserves. At present the local cement sector provides 86% of Switzerland’s 5Mt/yr domestic cement demand. The report by the Swiss Geological Survey states that acceptance of all proposed mining expansion projects in 2023 would delay the projected decline until the end of 2030.