‘Super’ quarry opens in Fiji

(Nadi, Fiji)  —  Standard Concrete Industries, a division of Basic Industries Limited has expanded its operation in Nadi with establishment of a “super” quarry.

It’s been dubbed the super quarry because of its relatively large rock resource available compared with other local quarries.

Located at the foothills of the Sleeping Giant mountain range at Sabeto, the quarry has started full scale production of crushed aggregates from hard rock.

The estimated value of investment in this quarry and the expected number of jobs to be generated from this expansion has not been revealed yet.

But FHL public relations officer Ilisapeci Levula said with an estimated total quantity of rock in excess of 10 million cubic metres, its expected quarry life under current extraction rates was at least 50 years.

She said the rock found at the quarry was an igneous type rock ideal for the production of quarry aggregates.

“In the past, Standard Concrete’s Nadi crushing plant had relied on river gravel as its only source of raw material, which is a fast depleting resource in the greater Nadi area,” Levula said.

“However, in 2004, the company embarked on a strategic move to establish a long-term hard rock resource in the Nadi/Lautoka area.

“After 4 years of geological research, landowner negotiations, environmental impact assessment studies, statutory requirements applications and approvals, initial quarry and access road establishment, an environmentally sustainable hard rock resource has finally been established in the area.”

Levula said the quarry would not only benefit the company but the economy as a whole as it is located in the heart of the nation’s tourism industry and would provide an unlimited source of high quality aggregates for major hotels and infrastructure development in the area.

“Exporting aggregates to other South Pacific Island nations that do not have aggregate sources of their own is a growing market for the company and also a potential foreign income earner for the country,” she said.

She added the establishment of the Sabeto quarry was a major achievement for Standard Concrete in terms of environmental concerns as it had enabled the company to move away from river gravel extraction to hard rock quarrying.

This, she said had a far less damaging effect on the environment, given that the company continuously monitored the impact of its operations on the environment on a daily basis.

Basic Industries Limited is jointly owned by FHL and Holcim New Zealand Limited, a leading supplier of cement, aggregates, ready mixed concrete and lime.