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GEOLOGICAL, GEOTECHNICAL, AND TECHNICAL ASSESSMENTS – KEY

ESSENTIALS IN QUARRYING ECONOMICS

Article in ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences · June 2011

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Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences Volume 3, March 2011
© 2011 Cenresin Publications
www.cenresin.org
GEOLOGICAL, GEOTECHNICAL, AND TECHNICAL ASSESSMENTS – KEY
ESSENTIALS IN QUARRYING ECONOMICS

Igonor E.E. 1 and Oden, M.I. 2

1
Igonor, Emmanuel E., Petra Prospectors Limited (Nigeria)
2
Oden, M. Ikpi, Department of Geology, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria
eeigonor@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT
As the world strives for industrial and economic development, there is a corresponding
increase in construction activities which has translated to high demands of construction
materials (crushed stones, dimension stones, aggregates) and this has led to the growth
of the quarry industry. A sound knowledge of the challenges expected to be met in the
course of the quarry operation (both pre-production and production periods) and a proper
plan to check them is important in the building and running of a financially viable quarry.
A change in philosophy is required by quarry operators that money spent on pre-
production (geological, geotechnical and technical) investigations should not be seen as
waste but as a means of improving the efficiency of the mining operations, and hence its
profitability. Timely application of workable and established geological, geotechnical, and
technical factors, which are key essentials that influence quarrying economics, can save
quarry operators considerable amounts of time and money both in the short and long
term.
Keywords: geological assessment; geotechnical assessment, quarry operations; quarry
management plan; quarry economics

INTRODUCTION
With the evolution of civilization and democratisation and the development of industrial
economy the world over, there has been an increase in construction/building activities,
which has translated into a rising increase in the demand for construction materials
(crushed stones, dimension stones and aggregates). This increase in demand, has also led
to the influx of a high number of investors into quarry operations. In fact today the quarry
industry is a multi-million dollar industry. Since most investors are not professionals
(mining engineers or geoscientists), only the monetary (economic) aspect of the operation
is given due diligence, but with total neglect or disdain of the geological, geotechnical and
technical aspects of the whole operations. For a good quarry development, proper
planning and careful consideration should be given to all aspects for a systematic and
unified approach to ensure the quarry runs efficiently and is economically managed.
Quarry operation is a multi-million dollar business and is characterised by certain pre-
production and production challenges not generally typical of most other business
undertakings, hence adequate and proper assessment is essential before start-up of
operation (Ross and Jaime, 1995). A sound knowledge of the challenges expected to be
met in the course of the quarry operation (both pre-production and production periods)
and a proper plan to check them put in place is important in building and running of a
financially viable and profitable quarry. A partial or total disregard for these problems, will
lead to serious financial losses and eventual failure and closure of the quarry site.
It is the intention of this paper to identify key geological, geotechnical, and technical
factors that could influence quarrying economics and to illustrate how a timely application

52
Geological, Geotechnical, and Technical Assessments – Key Igonor E.E. and Oden, M.I.
Essentials in Quarrying Economics
of workable and established geoscientific principles can save quarry operators
considerable amounts of time and money both in the short and long term. This paper is
also to stress the need for a change in philosophy required by quarry operators that
money spent on pre-production (geological and geotechnical) investigations should not be
seen as waste but as a means of improving the efficiency of the mining operations, and
hence its profitability. Lastly, it is expected that this paper will serve as a guide to all
investors seeking to start up a quarry operation. Many texts adequately cover each of the
topics under consideration (geological, geotechnical and technical assessment) so this
paper will identify and consider significant points only.

ASSESSMENTS AND CHALLENGES IN QUARRY OPERATIONS

For a successful quarry development, two basic stages are involved (Keith, 1991): (a) the
investigation (pre-production) stage and (b) the production stage. For ease of discussion,
the cutting or crushing and screening of stones into various sizes are all here considered
under the production stage. The geological, geotechnical and technical assessment are
important mainly at the investigation stage but necessary periodically at the production
stage to ascertain if the results at the investigation stage still tallies with what is
obtainable at the current production stage.

GEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT
This is the general site description and evaluation of the geology of the proposed quarry.
This is important since geological factors were after all responsible for the formation and
structure of the deposit to be quarried. The main purposes of geological assessment of a
quarry is to (a) determine the quality of the reserve, (b) determine the recoverable
reserve volume and (c) develop a quarry development logistics for easy and efficient
running of the quarry(Wickstrom et. al., 2008). To effectively do this, it is important to (1)
review previous studies on the area, (2) review previous geologic and topographic
information and maps and (3) visit the site for actual field investigation or “ground
truthing”. This requires the expertise of a competent and qualified geoscientist, to
produce a sound report. Major issues to be looked at in this aspect include:

Nature and extent of overburden: depending on the geologic terrain (either basement
or sedimentary) the problem of overburden could vary and if not properly checked could
be a serious draw back to the commencement of production of finished products. In
assessing the viability of the quarry is important to use geophysical survey (Bayewu,
2002), to help define the depth and extent of the overburden, and knowledge of this can
further help in calculating the cost and time of removal which would be built into the
overall economic evaluation of the site. Overburden excavation and storage are
fundamental to the economics of a well run quarry.

Extent of material – reserve estimation: it is essential to adequately define and

estimate the extent of the material to be quarried (reserve) as this would help determine
the possible active mine life or better still “life span” of the quarry operation. Failure to
estimate the reserve would create problems in evaluating the economic viability and
profitability of the operation and also hinder impede the computing of what initial start up
capital should be, expected returns, and for how long? The recoverable reserve estimate
(which is the maximum quantity and quality of reserve that can be exploited at economic
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Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences Volume 3, March 2011

value – Jack, (1993)) is also built into this phase of assessment (as this is the actual
material available for production-hence what will determine the actual expected revenue).

Quality (geochemistry) of material: although this aspect is most often ignored by

operators, it is very important in determining the overall quality of the material to be
quarried. Radioactive element (especially randon-22, and uranium – Hanes, (2010)) or
other easily degradable minerals like feldspars, pose challenges in rocks especially when
they are to be quarried for indoor construction works. The actual concentration of these
elements in the rocks should be determined especially in dimension stones quarrying, to
avoid harm to man and also the hammer of the law, as there are regulations guiding the
maximum allowable concentration of these elements in quarry operations. The quality of
quarry materials is to a large extent dependent on the geochemistry and mineralogy of
the rock (aside from other aesthetic and physical properties desired for marketability).

Deposit characterisation: this entails studying the whole quarry site and describing in
details the lithology of the area to see if the entire area is covered by a particular rock
type or if they vary and what is the degree of variance. This study will help to define the
proper mode of extraction/production in the case where different rock types are present.
This will also help to check if all the rock types are useful for quarrying purpose which in
essence will determine the expected revenue from production. This study should be done
to cover both vertical and horizontal profiles for best result.

Geologic history: this assessment is mainly a desk-top review. It has to do with

reviewing past publications and reports on the geologic history of the area of interest. The
focus point of this study is natural disasters (like earthquakes, landslides, volcanic
eruptions and the likes) – is the area prone to earthquake occurrence(s)? Have there been
landslides with damaging effects on the area before? Have there been any volcanic
eruption and when was the last eruption and when would be the next eruption? Questions
like these would help guide a prospective investor away from a disaster zone (in case
there are no government regulations that prohibits quarry operations in such areas).

GEOTECHNICAL ASSESSMENT
Geotechnical assessment is aimed at providing enough information to tackle likely
problems during operations that could result in downtime and stoppage of production
(Bell, 2008). It answers questions relating to issues like water ingress into the quarry pit;
slope stability; engineering properties of materials, and so on, so that a working quarry
plan could be constructed. Since experience has shown that geotechnics can contribute to
long-term quarry prosperity and profitability, it is advisable that geotechnical studies be
carried out at the early stage of quarry planning with as much geotechnical information as
possible obtained for a workable operating quarry design with the help of a sound and
professional structural geoscientist (Houghton, 1983). Major factors considered in
geotechnical assessment include:

Water ingress into quarry pit: in quarries, water may sometimes begin to flow into the
pit and operational areas. Depending on the rate of inflow and removal, this water could
pose serious problems of downtime to operations. This is very common in places where
the water table is high or where the pit level has been dug far below the water, thus
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Geological, Geotechnical, and Technical Assessments – Key Igonor E.E. and Oden, M.I.
Essentials in Quarrying Economics
allowing the water from the surroundings to force their way into the pit. Ground water
ingress is one of the most important factors that influence the stability of quarry faces
(Jack, 1993). The build up of water pressure developed along joints or along bedding
planes and discontinuities can cause uplift forces which reduce shear strength and tend to
cause instability so a proper check of this factor is necessary in controlling rock/soil slope
instability.

Fractures/joints characteristics in the rock: this factor plays a very crucial role in
rock quarrying, especially when the production is for dimension stones purpose (where
initial large sizes of materials are needed before later cutting and polishing into desired
sizes). Where fractures are too much and too close, then the possibility of operating a
viable dimension stone quarry is reduced to near zero. Also this factor, if not properly
studied, can greatly affect production even in crushed stone quarry by affecting the blast
design and the nature of blasted materials (either because oversized or too small) thereby
increasing production time and reducing profits (Byington, 2007).

Competence of materials: this factor deals with the engineering properties of the
rock, which is very important as it controls the quality of the product, the excavation
methods, and to a lesser degree the blast design. The competency of the material is
greatly determined by the degree or extent of weathering that has affected such material.
Needless to say that excessive weathering, which reduces the competency of rock
materials, is not desirable for quarry operations. Reserve estimation done on the
assumption of uniform distribution of quality materials throughout the site is dangerous to
the economics of the quarry (Collin and Waring, 1983). Reserve estimation should be
done against the background of quality control. The application of established
geotechnical index tests would help to ensure that proper quality control is put in place in
quarry operations. It is also advisable that geotechnical index tests be carried out before
and periodically during operations to ensure consistency of quality products.

Bench and Face design: (State of Western Australia, 1999) though the creation of
bench and faces may not be feasible in some geological environment, it is nevertheless
important to enforce its design from the start of quarry operations. This would help to
check the dangerous effect of collapse of very steep walls. These benches will not only
provide access to the quarry face, but also act as rock traps to falling rocks in small scale
failures. It is recommended that the individual benches should be steeper than the overall
face. Since the orientation and frequency of the occurrence of structural discontinuities
control the bench and face design, this assessment must be done by a competent
structural geoscientist. Alongside this assessment is the slope stability study. This is
essential because if the slopes are designed with low probability of failure and are cut too
flat, then increased in ratio of stripping would cause quarry cost to rise. Also if the slope is
designed with a high probability of failure, then failure and damages would arise, which
would also cause an increase in the quarry cost. Hence it is essential to balance the
extremes to get the most cost effective slope angle.

TECHNICAL EVALUATIONS
This aspect entails the assessment and evaluation of the machines and industrial
requirements to operate the quarry with the background of the results obtained from the
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Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences Volume 3, March 2011

geological and geotechnical assessment. This paper would not look in-depth into this
aspect as there are various texts and industry journals that handle this better. The major
points of consideration in technical evaluation are: the most economical extraction
methods of the quarry products; the best means of transporting products from the quarry
pit to processing site (either by haulage trucks or conveyor belts); the best size (capacity),
efficient and durable truck, crusher and processing machines to purchase. For long term
economic reason, it is better to install one machine of larger capacity than two of smaller
capacity – it is easier to maintain and replace; the maximum feed size and through put of
crushers; haulage road network; and water and energy requirement of the staff and
equipments. Other miscellaneous factors also considered here are: workforce and
expertise; administrative buildings, fuel and explosives storing facilities; waste disposal;
and overburden removal and land reclamation processes. Even though these (geological,
geotechnical and technical) assessment are not the only requirements in the preparation
of a standard Quarry Management Plan (QMP), they nevertheless remain the core
essentials without which a QMP cannot be done.

CONCLUSIONS
As part of the overburden studies, climatic data and the physical characteristics of the
overburden should be ascertained in order to ensure the correct selection of machinery
for all-year operation. The major reason any one would go into quarry operation is to
make profit by recovering as much valuable (quality) materials from the deposit as
possible at an economical level. It is therefore imperative that investors ensure that a
proper geological, geotechnical and technical assessment is done meticulously, since it is
this results that would form bulk of the raw data that would eventually be used to
compute the overall economic viability of the whole quarry operations. But it should be
noted that these results no matter how positive and encouraging they may be, could pale
into insignificance when considered alongside political, financial, fiscal, legal, marketing,
and or communal problems that can make or mar the viability of the deposit to be
quarried. Therefore, the geological, geotechnical and technical assessments are not “a
standalone factors” but must be considered alongside other determining factors for best
and holistic approach.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors wish to thank the management of Crushed Rocks Industry, Suctone Quarry,
Gitto Quarry, and PRODECO for access into and study of their quarries during the course
of writing this paper.

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