A small cinder quarry

A dimension stone quarry

A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone. Quarries are usually shallower than other types of open-pit mines.

People in some English-speaking countries are unlikely to make the distinction between this type of mine and any other type of open-pit or open-cast borrow or gravel pit mining operation.

Quarries in level areas often have special engineering problems for drainage. The coquina quarry at the right is excavated to more than sixty feet (18 meters) below sea level. To reduce surface leakage a moat, lined with clay, was contructed around the entire quarry. Ground water that seeps into the pit is pumped up into the moat.

Many quarries fill with water to become ponds or small lakes after abandonment for mining purposes. Others have become landfills.

Types of rock extracted from quarries include:

• Cinder
• Coquina
• Blue rock
• Granite
• Gritstone
• Limestone
• Marble
• Sandstone
• Slate

See also

• List of rocks
• List of minerals and stone types
• List of stone
• Collecting fossils