Giali Island
LAVA Mining & Quarrying was established in 1952 to operate the municipal pumice quarry located on Giali Island north of Nissiros. The company was integrated into the Heracles Group in 1977 and began to expand into new activities in 1980 by acquiring the gypsum quarry in Altsi, Sitia.
In 1989, LAVA began operating the pozzolan quarry in Milos, while the silica sand quarry on the same island started operations in 1996. In 2001, the HERACLES Group became a member of the Lafarge/Holcim Group, which is present in 64 countries and is a world leader in construction materials. From 2002 to 2011, LAVA developed trade in aggregates in its unit in Almyros, Volos.
The pumice stone quarry is located on the island of Giali, north of Nissiros. LAVA has been operating the quarry, which is owned by the municipality of Nissiros, since 1952. This open pit quarry is operated according to the vertical bench method.
How the pumice quarry works
Initially, there is an uncovering of the deposits from the sterile geological formations (8-25m). The quarrying takes place with bulldozers and the crushed material is driven to the processing facilities by belt conveyors. The production process at the site begins with the extraction of the material from the benches. The exploitation is shallow and is carried out with the help of benches using a propeller. The material is extracted with bulldozers by cutting the material into small horizontal strips and pushing it to the front of the slope, which ensures that the front surface falls evenly, while at the base of the shaped pile, a technical metal tunnel is installed. Inside the tunnel is a conveyor belt that receives the excavated material through doors (tampers) that the tunnel has on its roof. Then, when the material is received from the conveyor belts located inside the metal tunnel, it is advanced through the conveyor belts to the processing plant where the size of the material is reduced by crushers and separated by sieves into the corresponding granules. Then through conveyor belts, the material is deposited in outdoor warehouses, ready for shipping. The products are then transported on conveyor belts directly into the ship and sent to the customers.
Lava mining today produces 1,200,000 tons/year; but has a possibility of an additional 1,000,000 tons, it has privately owned port facilities capable of serving vessels with a tonnage of up to 27,000 tons at a loading rate of 1,000 tons/hour.
