Our proposal to tackle the Gold Coast's looming, housing, infrastructure and waste management issues
Quarry Industry
What is it and why do we need it?
Quarry products are often collectively referred to as aggregates. Aggregates are used in composite materials such as concrete, asphalt, masonry products, bricks and bituminous road surfacing, or on their own such as road base.
Aggregates are essential to our economic prosperity and are the foundation of our built environment. They are crucial in the building of our homes, roads, railways, schools, hospitals, and other types of other essential urban infrastructure.
Quarry materials are Queensland’s second largest mined commodity by tonnage, but unlike mining for minerals and coal, almost the entire industry output is consumed domestically and close to source for the construction and maintenance of our built environment.
Each year, the building and construction industry needs more than 200 million tonnes of quarry materials.
Every Australian requires 8 tonnes of stone, sand and gravel every year to build the roads, houses and other infrastructure we all need.
To build an average new house we use about 110 tonnes of construction aggregates and 53 cubic metres of concrete.
To build one kilometre of two-lane highway requires about 140,000 tonnes (or 400 truckloads) of construction aggregates.
Aggregates are also used for rail ballast, drainage media, landscaping purposes, and larger sized rock such as gabion and revetment stone for erosion, scour protection and construction of retaining walls.
Ideally quarrying needs to be carried out close to where these materials will be used. This keeps transportation costs low, reduces environmental emissions, reduces traffic congestion and helps keep building costs down in local communities. Road transport distance and cost represents around 35% of the delivered costs of aggregates.
Quarries usually coexist with local communities and are bound by stringent planning and operating conditions to minimise their impact.
The RCKRA Project will be surrounded by a 160.3 hectares of land that will be protected, conserved and enhanced for environmental purposes.
The identified land for environmental purposes will be placed under an environmental covenant, ensuring it will never be used for future expansion or housing development.
As well as providing these essential construction materials, quarries are a key employer within local communities and promote local investment. The quarry industry provides more than 10,000 jobs directly and supports another 80,000 indirectly, often in rural and regional locations.
