HOW QUARRIES HELP US

Australian quarries support our vital building and construction industries which generate over $200 billion in revenue each year and directly employ more than one million Australians. The building and construction industry demands more than 200 million tonnes of construction aggregates each year to meet the need for our homes, workplaces, public buildings and roads.

As well as providing these essential materials, quarries stimulate local communities through investment and by providing jobs. In fact, the quarry industry creates over 10,000 jobs directly and supports another 80,000 indirectly, often in rural and regional locations.

KEEPING COSTS LOW

Quarries are usually long term operations and often serve the needs of their community for many years. Extensive planning is required to balance any local impacts while serving our needs for the construction of road and buildings.

Local geology determines where the resources are located in the earth. Quarries must be located where these materials are and where existing transport infrastructure, principally roads, are available to get the materials to market. It’s also about efficiency, safety and the environment. The closer a quarry is to its markets, the cheaper the cost of supplying the materials. This flows through to the cost of constructing homes, driveways, paving, roads and all other facilities our communities rely on.

Because the trucks delivering these materials have fewer kilometres to travel, there are fewer trucks needed, less wear and tear and congestion on our roads, reduced risk of accidents and less CO2 emissions.

FURTHER READING