Leaton Quarry extension gets the go-ahead

Twelve-million-tonne extension provides a major boost to Breedon Aggregates’ minerals reserves

BREEDON Aggregates Ltd, the UK’s largest independent aggregates producer, have secured a significant boost to their long-term mineral reserves with a major extension to their hard rock quarry at Leaton, near Telford, in Shropshire.

Consent has been granted by the local planning authority for Breedon Aggregates to access approximately 12 million tonnes of additional rock deposits at the quarry, which has been in operation since the 1960s.

The approval brings the company’s total permitted reserves at Leaton to over 20 million tonnes, extending the life of the quarry to more than 25 years.

The company has also been granted permission to increase production at the site to 750,000 tonnes per annum.

The consent is subject to a Section 106 agreement – the terms of which have been agreed – and the creation of a new site access, which forms part of a package of proposals to develop the site in an environmentally acceptable manner over the long term.

Commenting on the new consent, Tim Hall, chief executive of Breedon Aggregates England, said: ‘We’re delighted to have secured the future of Leaton for the next 30 years. This extension will ensure that it realizes its full potential as one of the group’s leading producers of crushed rock, asphalt and ready-mixed concrete.’

Breedon Aggregates currently operate 23 quarries, 18 asphalt plants and 27 ready-mixed concrete plants in England and Scotland, and have in excess of 170 million tonnes of mineral reserves and resources in the UK.