22/07/2021
What does it take to start a ballast quarry?, well, first you need to have land with stones that can be crushed. Atleast 10 acres is ideal.
Secondly, you have to engage a geological surveyor to give you a geological report on the type of stone in your land that you intend to mine, quantity, suitability for projects like road, railways, dams, etc. At the same time it's advisable to engage Nema for EIA and get licensed, you also mining lisence plus blasting permit. All the lisence will cost roughly Kshs 300k
Third you need to source for a stone crusher and other complimentary machineries like excavator, wheel loader, wagon drill with air compressor. You can buy a mobile crusher if the volume of your stones cannot sustain long term crushing. Mobile crushers can be moved from one place to the other while Stationary crushes once installed is pretty cumbersome to dismantle and install if the project is not running for atleast 3 years.
Fourth, you need to apply for Power from kplc or you can opt to use generator. Using generators can drive up cost of ballast production upto 30% higher.
Once you have all the licenses in place, you can start excavation work as you wait for shipment of your stone crusher. Takes about 3 to 4 months to order and get it shipped. In these 3 months, you shall have finished structural work such that once your crusher arrives in Kenya, you just do installation and Start crushing.
If you are thinking of starting a quarry, come talk to us, we can link you to financiers, suppliers so you can start mining ASAP.
Below are pictures of an ongoing installation