A typical limestone quarry

Transcript

Professor Cam Nelson

Here we’re in the McDonald lime quarry, one of the largest limestone quarries in New Zealand, which is situated near Te Kūiti. The lime that’s being quarried here is of high grade, better than 85 and certainly mainly better than 95% calcium carbonate, which is why the quarry is here.

There’s a very large reserve, and in particular, we’re quarrying the Ōtorohanga limestone, which is typically a very pure limestone everywhere. The Ōtorohanga limestone thickness can be anywhere between 50 metres and perhaps as much as 200 metres, and this quarry I suspect is getting closer to that latter value of about 200 metres. So there’s a huge lime resource here of high-grade, high-quality calcium carbonate. 

Acknowledgements:
McDonald’s Lime Limited