of SA’s legal quarrying industry will the construction of appropriate infrastructure be able to take place. This is according to the director of mining industry association ASPASA, Nico Pienaar, who says the quarrying industry in SA is technically advanced
QUARRIES ESSENTIAL TO A SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
and able to supply materials for modern construction techniques. However, many of the country’s quarries are under threat due to illegal operations and ill-considered borrow pits, which are undercutting the prices of formal quarries and bringing many to their knees. Pienaar warns that without wellmanaged quarries operating in our towns and cities, the cost of construction will become unaffordable for government, developers and home-owners. If the quarries are allowed to disappear, we will see similar problems arise to those of the Eskom energy and water crisis, where too little is done too late – and the country’s citizens will bear the brunt. No tomorrow “Imagine if we needed specialised materials to build a dam wall, tunnel or hospital, or private contractors needed high-strength concrete for mine shafts, high-rise buildings or advanced new construction techniques. Imagine if we couldn’t supply them because our formal quarrying industry’s mining experts, blasting professionals, mineral processing engineers and skilled workers had left the sector, due to the quarries closing. Illegal miners and small-scale borrow pits have neither the skills nor the expensive capital equipment to produce such materials,” says Pienaar. “By supporting illegal miners or establishing ill-considered borrow pits to meet shor t-term construction requirements more cheaply, government departments, municipalities and construction firms would be complicit in the demise of our quarries, which would then inevitably lead to the demise of the formal construction industry in SA. While short-term price gains may seem attractive, they undermine the livelihoods of thousands of workers who’re gainfully employed in the formal quarrying sector with its strenuous health, safety and
PRECAST | ISSUE ONE | 2020
environmental laws, as well as compli-
growth, a strong demand for infrastruc-
ance with employment criteria,” he adds.
tural development is required and this
He explains that quarries, by their
needs to be supported by legal quarry
nature, need to be situated either in or
operations in every town and city. “We’re
near towns and cities to avoid expensive
calling on government, contractors,
transport costs that would make them
developers and the formal construction
unaffordable. All too often, residents
industry to recognise the important roles
only see the negative side of quarrying,
played by well-resourced, well-equipped,
such as the use of heavy equipment
formal quarries and to support them in
on site, blasting or increased heavy
the interests of sustainable construc-
vehicle traffic and become upset at the
tion,” says Pienaar.
thought of having a “big, dirty” quarry nearby. These people don’t realise that formally registered quarries belonging
Quarries create employment for
to the association are far from being
surrounding communities
bad neighbours.
The value of well-run quarries in our cities and towns was recently
Compliance matters
underscored by research suggest-
L egal quarries which ar e member s
ing that every job in the quarrying
of ASPASA must obtain
industry creates a further five
mining, water usage and
jobs in downstream operations.
environmental permits and
These figures therefore sug-
have to abide by the strict-
gest that quarries are major
est regulations possible in
contributors to regional job crea-
order to begin quarrying op-
tion efforts and, as an industry,
erations. Once in operation,
are a major driver of the national
they are heavily regulated
economy, accounting for substan-
(in terms of the impact on
tial revenues and the creation of
surrounding communities)
direct and indirect employment.
and must comply with strin-
Research done in the USA by
gent regulations relating to noise, dust
the Phoenix Centre for Advanced
and water pollution, among others. An
Legal & Economic Public Policy
additional benefit is the creation of direct
Studies shows that quarries are
and indirect jobs that are sustainable
not only beneficial to the develop-
over a long period.
ment of physical infrastructure,
In fact, the quarry industry has never
but are major contributors to the
been more responsible and committed to
building of strong local economies.
the communities in which they operate.
It also shows that these benefits
With government’s commitment to build-
last for at least 20 years.
ing new homes and the rising population
INDUSTRY NEWS
Only with the co-ordinated ef f or ts
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