The Team

NUQQ Historical Photos

What is aggregate?

Aggregate materials, such as sand, gravel, and crushed stone, are the most fundamental - and indispensable - component of our nation's physical infrastructure.  They are the materials that provide the mass and strength of Portland cement concrete, and bituminous pavements. A paved roadway is made up of approximately 95% aggregate. One mile of a four lane highway uses 20,000 tons of rock and sand.  A new home uses on average 120 tons of aggregate. 

Why are aggregate resources important?

Every citizen of Minnesota unknowingly uses about 55 pounds of aggregate per day (or 10 tons per year) to maintain roads, develop infrastructure, support building and construction projects, and in industrial applications. About 25% of the aggregate consumed each year in Minnesota is used for the construction or maintenance of the state's 134,000 miles of public roads, 25% for public works projects like dams, airports, and public buildings, 25% for private residential construction, and 25% for commercial building projects and industrial applications like concrete, asphalt, railroad ballast, and ag lime among others.

Aggregate mining contributes to the state economy. More than 50 million tons of aggregate are mined each year in Minnesota at a value that exceeds $155 million. Industry trade associations estimate 1200 operators generate 10,000 jobs.

Where is aggregate found?

Aggregate resources are not uniformly distributed around the state. The location of an aggregate deposit depends on geology. When a resource has been identified, other factors like market demand and haul distance determine whether a deposit can serve as an economic source of aggregate materials.

Due to it's weight, aggregate cannot be economically transported long distances. Identifying local sources of aggregate is important. Aggregate has been or is currently being mined in all of the state's 87 counties.  There are an estimated 6,500 gravel pits and quarries in Minnesota.

What is the future outlook?

Expanding population is driving an increase in consumption of aggregate materials. 

Aggregate materials are a finite natural resource. Although once plentiful, aggregate sources are diminishing around the state from resource depletion as well as land use patterns that prohibit mining.

Conflicts between aggregate mining and other land uses are escalating while standards for reclamation are variable due to multiple jurisdictions.

 

What is Quartzite?

Products made from New Ulm Quartzite

The quarry company produces 

• Four different sizes of concrete aggregate

• Six sizes of bituminous aggregates including manufactured sands

• Rip Rap

• Railroad ballast

• Crushed road base

• Seal coat chips

• Aggregate for concrete products such as pre-cast building panels and concrete pipe

• Decorative landscape rock

• Ganister and filtration media

• Filter rock for sewage treatment plants 

• New Ulm Quartzite Quarries, Inc. is also the second largest manufacturer of crystalline mineral poultry grit in the United States, and bags and distributes the grit under the brand name Cherry Stone. The grit is also sold as a traction agent on ice and snow.

Why is quartzite a valuable construction aggregate?

Besides being very hard, quartzite has almost no porosity, which means it absorbs little or no moisture. When moisture enters the pore structure of a highly absorptive aggregate such as limestone it becomes susceptible to breakdown due to freeze-thaw activity. In Minnesota, where freeze-thaw occurrences can be as high as 40 events per season, a non-absorptive aggregate such as quartzite, used in concrete or bituminous materials, will extend the life of pavements thereby minimizing the life cycle cost of road construction.

Present Quarry Company

The quartzite quarries are situated on the eastern edge of New Ulm in Nicollet County, Minnesota, 75 miles southwest of Minneapolis. The quarries have had a remarkably long history. It is believed that operations first began around 1861 making it possibly the oldest business in New Ulm. The quarries were inactive for about three decades before reopening in 1956. Quarrying and aggregate processing operations have run continuously every year since. The present quarry company, New Ulm Quartzite Quarries, Inc., is a privately held Minnesota corporation. The quarry is open for sales year around and is served by the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad. Tours for large groups can be arranged upon request.

Skillings Mining Review