Green Gravel – Weathered Granite

Known in the road building industry as G5 natural gravel material it is used for subbase and basecourse layers for roads, and may be mixed with cement to produce stronger stabilized layers for heavy duty roads, freeways and parking areas. The material is normally used straight from the quarry without crushing or screening, and is accordingly considerably cheaper than crushed rock from for example Coedmore, Ridgeview or Verulam Quarries. 

For the same reasons it is an energy efficient material, thus creating substantial cost savings for the road construction industry, and road building public authorities. 

As an example of the above its noted that the G5 natural gravel from Stockville Quarry has been used to form the basecourse layer for the paving of the new Durban beachfront. This material proved its value as the lowest cost option for this prestige construction project. Should the Quarry be closed at any time in the future roads authorities including the eThekwini Municipality, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport and SANRAL would have to import comparable material from further afield at increased cost. 

Based on the use of the weathered granite from Stockville Quarry as a scarce strategic and economic mineral resource as above it is therefore recommended that: 

1. No limits should be placed on the extent of the material to be quarried from a town planning aspect. 

2. No time limit should be placed on the mining operations.