Characteristics and the environmental acceptability of the natural stone quarrying waste rocks

The paper summarises the results of a study by the Geological Survey of Finland on the potential use of waste rocks from natural stone quarry production. Petrographic, chemical, mechanical and physical tests were undertaken on granite, rapakivi granite, migmatite, syenite, diorite, gabbro, anorthosite gabbro, schist and soapstone from 33 dimension stone quarries in Finland. The results indicate the waste rocks of Finnish natural stone quarries can generally be considered environmentally sound with potential uses in other industries.