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Aggregate resources: Production and environmental constraints

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

Aggregates are produced from sand and gravel deposits or from bedrock sources. Production sites are numerous to minimize transport and are more and more in a competing land use position. Urbanization, while creating a market, also sterilizes deposits and pressures producers to relocate further from populated areas. Regulating and permitting quarries is an issue in regions with growing populations. This regulatory environment may cause exploitation schemes to evolve towards greater recycling, importing, and marine production, for example. These changes may be entirely attributable to increased environmental constraints on producing operations and not on conventional mining constraints such as overburden, ore grade, and costs of operation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mining and Mineral Process Engineering, University of British Columbia, Room 517, 6350 Stores Road, V6T 1Z4, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    R. Poulin, R. C. Pakalnis & K. Sinding

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  1. R. Poulin
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  2. R. C. Pakalnis
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  3. K. Sinding
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Poulin, R., Pakalnis, R.C. & Sinding, K. Aggregate resources: Production and environmental constraints. Geo 23, 221–227 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00771792

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00771792

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