Quarry Wins Awards

Quarry Wins Awards

16 July 2008– New Zealand’s largest lime producing quarry has won three prestigious awards at the recent quarry industry conference.

McDonald’s Lime Oparure Quarry, majority owned and operated by Holcim (New Zealand) Ltd, received awards for its initiatives and commitment to the environment, safety and the  community at the Institute of Quarrying / Aggregate & Quarry Association Combined Conference in Auckland last Friday

The quarry, located near Waitomo Village, supplies over 750,000 tonnes of high quality limestone each year used for commercial and agricultural purposes throughout the North Island.  

Environmental initiatives contributing to the MIMICO Environmental Award include water management through water recycling and specialised stone washing, rehabilitation of large areas of the quarry site for agricultural purposes to a condition better than that present prior to quarrying, and adoption of a carbon management plan to measure and reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions from quarry operations.

Cave conservation and community involvement have demonstrated the company’s strong commitment to corporate social responsibility which was recognised with the NZ Quarry & Mining Magazine Community & Social Sustainability Award.  This commitment has included working with the local tourist industry to optimise blast patterns to prevent effects on the significant cave infrastructure in the area.  Quarry open days and secondary school group visits teach the community about the extractive industry.

The Winstone Aggregates Safety Prize, also awarded to Oparure Quarry, recognises initiatives such as site safety inductions as part of contractor management, confined space entry procedures, an incident management system for reporting and following up of incidents, together with other initiatives forming part of the Holcim Zero Harm programme. The site has had no lost time injuries (where an employee is unable to resume work for the next shift due to injury) since 2003.

John Reeves, General Manager Lime for Holcim New Zealand said  “These prestigious awards are the top acknowledgements in each category to be given within the industry. They recognise the efforts of McDonald’s Lime staff at Oparure Quarry and other Holcim staff who have been involved in the various safety, environment and community initiatives. It is great to see their commitment recognised.”

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Holcim (New Zealand) Ltd is a leading New Zealand supplier of cement, aggregates, ready mixed concrete and lime. Its involvement in the New Zealand building industry dates back to 1888, and today it operates more than 35 sites and employs approximately 530 people. It is part of the Holcim Group, one of the world’s leading suppliers of cement, aggregates and construction-related services represented in over 70 countries on all continents.

McDonald’s Lime is 72% owned by Holcim New Zealand and 28% owned by NZ Steel. Holcim New Zealand has the management contract for McDonald’s Lime.

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