Quarried natural resources
Quarried natural resources
Interesting facts about quarried natural resources
History
Quarrying has been handed down since the beginning of human history. According to scientific findings, the oldest known ‘stones from human hands’ originate from the 9th to the 8th millennium B.C., taken from ground fortifications in the Middle East. The extraction of quarried natural resources also has a very long tradition in Germany. In the past, these raw materials were mainly extracted by hand, but companies today use modern technology. Geophysics, GPS, intelligent machine and plant control and largely automated processes control the extraction of these natural resources.
Economic Importance
Extraction
Uses
Industrial minerals
History
Industrial minerals are mineral rocks that can be immediately used in industry due to their special chemical and physical properties, i.e. without any substance conversion. In addition to the salts already mentioned in section v., this group includes kaolin (also called kaolin or porcelain earth), quartz sand (clay), special clay (fine ceramic clay), quartzite, feldspar, sticky sand, bentonite, silicas, fluorite and barite.
Economic Importance
Extraction
The extraction of industrial minerals in Germany is extremely regional in structure, due to natural condi- tions. While, for example, kaolin is produced in Bavaria and Saxony and silica in Bavaria, the extraction of special clay is mainly concentrated in Rhineland- Palatinate and Hesse.
Apart from salts, industrial minerals in Germany are mainly mined above ground by small and medium- sized enterprises. In contrast, fluorite and barite are also mined underground. In 2014, Germany boasted a total of 627 active production sites, of which one part was dedicated solely to the extraction of quartz and quartz sands.