Clearwell Quarries supply the full range of limestone aggregates to the construction industry and the DIY & home market.
About the Quarry
Clearwell Quarries Limited is a medium sized limestone quarry in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. It has been operating since the early years of the last century and during the last ten years has expanded as a modern mechanised production facility.
The quarry, which is situated between the village of Clearwell and the hamlet of Stowe, covers an area of some 60 hectares and consists of two workings; namely the old worked out Clearwell Quarry and the new Stowe Hill Quarry. Mining of the Clearwell Quarry ceased in 1998 and all mining now takes place in Stowe Quarry. The two quarries are separated by a district road but are connected via a tunnel that passes under the road.
Mining and primary crushing of the carboniferous limestone takes place in Stowe quarry. The capacity of the newly installed primary crusher is in excess of 400 tonnes per hour and stone from the primary crusher is conveyed from Stowe quarry to Clearwell quarry via a 500 metre long overland conveyor passing through the connecting tunnel.
In Stowe quarry the primary crushed rock is further processed to produce a vast range of excellent quality products varying in size from 150mm Gabion Stone to 2mm Agricultural Lime. Also situated in Stowe quarry is a modern state-of-the-art concrete batching plant as well as a coating plant that produces the full range of asphalt products. All products are loaded and dispatched from Stowe quarry and the fully automated loading and dispatch facility comfortably handles the companies annual sales output in excess of half million tonnes.
Commitment to the Environment
Clearwell Quarries is committed to protecting and regenerating the environment in which it operates. Read about our long term committment that worked out parts of the quarry are progressively restored to agriculture or to small wildlife reserves.
Physical Properties
Typical physical properties of the carboniferous limestone mined at Clearwell Quarries Limited are listed below. These properties are tested on an annual basis and listed below are the most recent laboratory results.
| 10% Fines Value (soaked) | 200kN |
|---|---|
| 10% Fines Value (dry) | 210kN |
| Aggregate Crushing Value | 19 |
| Magnesium Sulphate Soundness Value | 97.2% |
| Wet Attrition Value | 5.8 |
| Drying Shrinkage | 0.031% |
| Relative Density (oven dried basis) | 2.68 |
| Relative Density (saturated surface dry) | 2.69 |
| Apparent Relative Density | 2.72 |
| Water Absorption (% of dry mass) | 0.6% |
| Total Silica Content | 4.84% |
| Free Silica Content | 7g/kg |
| Drying Shrinkage | 0.02% |
| Chloride Ion Content | 0.01% |
| Water soluble sulphate content | <0.1g/l SO3 |