Glossary of Terms

Aggregates – Stones, sand, gravel and other materials that are used in construction.

 

Berm/Bund – An earthen barrier, covered with native plants that provides a physical and visual screen between public property and a quarry site. Berms/Bunds also limit access to the site and help keep noise levels down in the community. Bunds can also be within a quarry (in this case they are made of aggregate.)

 

Buffer zone – An area surrounding a quarry that helps provide a visual and sound barrier between the quarry and the surrounding community. These buffers consist of naturally occurring plants and trees, planned habitats and other areas. 

 

Closed loop water system – A system of capturing and recycling the water we use in the processing plant.

 

Conveyor belt – An endless, moving, flexible belt that takes stones from one place to another around the processing plant.

 

Crushers – The machines used to break big stones down into smaller stones. Stones go through several different size crushers during the processing operation.

 

Crushed stone – Stone that is crushed to a specific size in a quarry processing plant.

 

Dust suppression – The process of reducing the amount of dust that goes into the air. 

 

Haul trucks – Trucks that haul loads of stones from the pit to the primary crusher at the processing plant. These can be dump trucks (often) or road trucks. 

 

Permitting – The process of getting approval from local and regional council or government agencies to operate a quarry.

 

Pit – Another name for a quarry. A place where stones are dug or mined out of the earth.

 

Pit loader – An excavation tool that helps move the stones from the earth onto conveyor belts or into haul trucks.

 

Primary crusher – The first crusher that big stones are crushed by. The primary crusher makes the stones small enough to go through the secondary and tertiary crushers.

 

Processing plant – Where stones from the quarry are taken to be processed into different sizes. 

 

Quarry – A place where stones are dug or mined out of the earth.

 

Quarrying – the process of digging stones out of the earth.

 

Screening – Different size screens (like a filter) are used in the processing plant to separate stones into piles of the same size. stones are passed through several different size screens during processing.

 

Sediment – Sand and other matter that is in the water that we recycle. Sediment is heavier than water and settles to the bottom of a recycling pond.

 

Stockpile – Large piles of stones and sand where trucks go to pick up loads of the processed construction materials.

 

Vibrations – Movement that may be caused by crushing.

 

Water quality regulations – Local council regulations that must be met if water is allowed to flow from a quarry site into a stream, river or to soak into the ground.