08/06/2026
Tomorrow, on 9 June 2026, the 5th Workshop of the EU Interreg cooperation project recomine SN-CZ-Plus will take place in Varnsdorf/Warnoćicy under the title “Critical Mineral Raw Materials and the Extraction of Rocks in the Šluknov and Sohland Regions”. At 3:10 PM CEST, Markus Zingelmann from Beak Consultants GmbH, will present "The Natural Stone Cadastre Saxony".
The natural stone industry is an important sector of raw material extraction in Germany. Saxony has a rich and diverse range of raw materials. Regional natural stones hold a important position as construction materials from past epochs. In modern times, however, the use of Saxon natural and decorative stones has increasingly declined, as the origin of the raw material has played only a subordinate role compared with price.
With the Saxon Raw Materials Strategy, first adopted in 2012, the Saxon State Government pursues, among other objectives, the valorisation of regional natural and decorative stones. To this end, the Saxon Mining Authority (Sächsisches Oberbergamt Freiberg) commissioned the development of a Saxon Natural Stone Register. Following conceptual preparatory work by Geokompetenzzentrum Freiberg e.V. (GKZ), the project was implemented primarily by Beak Consultants GmbH. A number of additional subcontractors carried out specialised expert assignments. The Saxon State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology (Sächsisches Landesamt für Umwelt, Landwirtschaft und Geologie (LfULG)) was also involved in the project, providing technical support.
The Natural Stone Cadastre, now available as a result of this work, provides a comprehensive overview of the occurrence, extraction and use of natural stones in the Free State of Saxony. It explains which geological and tectonic processes have led to the diversity of natural stones and their deposits in Saxony. Particular emphasis is placed on the re-measurement of the rock-physical properties of the investigated stone types. In addition, the register shows which natural stones have been used for specific purposes in the past and for which applications they can be used today. High-quality photographs present the stone types and document their use as building materials.
