Austenlennon
11 years ago
I am a Councillor in Northern Ireland. Our Council is proposing to buy Chinese Pink Granite and I am concerned about the Chinese safety record but most of all I am annoyed that the Council is not considering buying from the UK.

I dislike the Pink Granite anyway. I wish them to buy British stone. They are going to use the stone to re-lay all the footpaths in our town. Is there such a thing as British Granite with a red tinge and could people point me to more information on mining conditions in China so that I could argue my point with good information please?
Morlock
11 years ago
Not sure how up to date this list is, colour of stone quarried is noted.

http://chestofbooks.com/architecture/Building-Construction-3-3/List-Of-Some-Of-The-Principal-Granite-Quarries-In-Great-Britain-And-Ireland.html 

A quick web search should supply ample evidence on the China rights issues. 😉
Austenlennon
11 years ago
Excellent. I have done the internet search and have found a report by the Swedish on ethics in China mining. But I am hoping that maybe someone on this site might point me in a more up to date or informative fashion. I dare not get up and just quote from the internet I need some solid info. 🙂
fjällvandring
11 years ago
hi mate

I understand your concern. Yes there is pink granite in UK, I live near Shap in the Lake District and there is even a pink granite quarry. I'm not sure about how regularly this quarry is operated, it's my impression that the quarry is currently mothballed but still owned, so I can try and find out for you when I'm next up there? I presume that like a lot of quarries they take material from it when there is an order, like a lot of our slate quarries which are operated according to the customer demands for that particular colour etc.

Linden
jeg elsker Norge, landets dialekter, folk, landskap og naturen!
Roy Morton
11 years ago
Luxulian in Cornwall was also noted for its pink granite.
"You Chinese think of everything!"
"But I''m not Chinese!"
"Then you must have forgotten something!"
tiger99
11 years ago
It is extremely sad that the UK imports stone, when we have plenty ourselves. I just can't see how it can be justified on environmental grounds, because of the CO2 emissions from transporting it half way round the world, as well as the costs. It will use the same amount of energy extracting the stone in the UK as in China, and I expect that with better regulations, our machinery will produce less pollution. And, it would give employment to people in the UK.

I hear that even bulk materials such as roadstone are often imported, while the UK has vast reserves of quartz-dolerite and other suitable rocks. I have to wonder why this situation came about, and what kind of imbeciles have been running the country for at least the last 50 years.
simonrl
  • simonrl
  • 51% (Neutral)
  • Administration
11 years ago
There was a similar situation with the new Hafan Eryri summit café on Snowdon IIRC.

The granite was originally going to come from Portugal.

There was local dissent at this, and the decision was made to use locally sourced granite from Cwt y Bugail (better known as a slate quarry).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/5320324.stm 

An extra £56,000 out of a budget £8.3M - or an extra 0.67%...
my orders are to sit here and watch the world go by
Adrian Colwyn
11 years ago
You need to look at the pavements in Colwyn Bay. The council had tonnes of cash from the EU/Welsh Government and relaid everywhere with light grey imported? granite. Only problem now is that is is oil stained and marked and they don't know or can't afford to clean it and it is slippery when it is wet. It now looks worse than before. It looked great for a while but now?
sparty_lea
11 years ago
Did you find this report from Sweden on improvments needed to Chinese natural stone industry
http://www.pierrebleuebelge.be/images/biblio/biblio-87-1089.pdf 
There are 10 types of people in the world.

Those that understand binary and those that do not!
PeteJ
  • PeteJ
  • 50.2% (Neutral)
  • Newbie
11 years ago
The BGS did some work on sources of stone in the UK. I assume that you may be able to obtain a copy from Keyworth.
Pete Jackson
Frosterley
01388527532
somersetminer
11 years ago
"tiger99" wrote:

It is extremely sad that the UK imports stone, when we have plenty ourselves. I just can't see how it can be justified on environmental grounds, because of the CO2 emissions from transporting it half way round the world, as well as the costs. It will use the same amount of energy extracting the stone in the UK as in China, and I expect that with better regulations, our machinery will produce less pollution. And, it would give employment to people in the UK.

I hear that even bulk materials such as roadstone are often imported, while the UK has vast reserves of quartz-dolerite and other suitable rocks. I have to wonder why this situation came about, and what kind of imbeciles have been running the country for at least the last 50 years.



the answer is: it isnt any longer! the machinery is all in place so outsourcing like this tends to happen automatically, after all fuel and labour elsewhere has been relatively cheap for many years...not so much now, the people placing the orders need to be educated about the resources we have! somewhat unlikely though when the shipping companys and the firms in China are doing nicely out of it (and dare I say it central government might be getting a little something in return if certain orders are placed with certain companies as well)
somersetminer
11 years ago
rather like how we have gazillion wind turbines littering the countryside yet they are not manufactured here...
:offtopic: though
Similar Topics
Users browsing this topic

Disclaimer: Mine exploring can be quite dangerous, but then again it can be alright, it all depends on the weather. Please read the proper disclaimer.
© 2005 to 2023 AditNow.co.uk

Dedicated to the memory of Freda Lowe, who believed this was worth saving...