What We Produce
Mountsorrel Quarry
Geology
Granite, like the pink stone found at Mountsorrel Quarry, is a very hard igneous rock formed deep underground over millions of years. At Mountsorrel, it’s dug out of the ground and crushed up, so that it can be used to build roads, railways, buildings and more.
So, what is igneous rock? Igneous rock forms when hot, melted rock cools down and becomes solid. Some igneous rocks form deep underground when magma cools slowly - this gives them big, sparkly crystals. Other igneous rocks form when lava erupts from a volcano and cools quickly - these rocks can be smooth or bubbly.
This means that the granite at Mountsorrel Quarry formed millions of years ago deep inside the Earth! Mountsorrel’s granite is made up of a combination of minerals including feldspar, biotite and quartz. It also has a high proportion of large pink crystals which gives it that rare pink colour – making it extra special!
The granite at Mountsorrel is about 450 million years old, making it much older than the dinosaurs (they didn’t arrive until about 245 million years ago!)
Landmark Projects
Due to the unique physical properties of granite, these materials are critical for a wide range of construction and infrastructure uses, from a local to a national level.
Local projects
At the local level, we supply local authorities, commercial and industrial developments, and private construction projects. Examples include: Garendon Park; Broadnook Garden Village; Loughborough College; Leicestershire County Council Highways capital works; M69 resurfacing; and construction materials to support Charnwood Borough Council to deliver approximately 19,500 new homes as part of their Local Plan.
Across the region
We supply materials to major infrastructure projects across the Midlands, including highways and maintenance schemes such as National Highways Network Areas 7 and 9, M1 Junctions 19 and 22–23, East Midlands Airport and Loughborough Railway Station.
A national supplier
Mountsorrel supports key national infrastructure and development projects.
Our granite was used in the original construction of the M25 and has since been relied upon for runway resurfacing and widening projects, including major schemes at Heathrow and Luton. We have also supplied Wembley Stadium, HS2, the Shard and the Silverstone racetrack.
We are due to supply the mineral for two upcoming major projects: the new Lower Thames Crossing and Sizewell C Nuclear Plant.
We also have a partnership with National Highways, supplying road maintenance and construction materials for road programmes across the country. We also have a partnership with Network Rail, where we supply 40% of the rail ballast for the UK’s rail network as well as supplying intermodal distribution centres such as the East Midlands Gateway.