Business
19 September, 2026
Quarry seeks permission to blast
The operators of a Southern Tablelands quarry are seeking State Government approval to start blasting operations.
The operators of a Southern Tablelands quarry are seeking State Government approval to start blasting operations.
CEAL Limited has submitted an application to modify its State Significant Development application to allow for ‘limited controlled blasting’ at the Ardmore Park Quarry, 25km southeast of Goulburn.
The existing development consent allows for the extraction of 580,000 tonnes of sand and basalt per annum using mechanical extraction methods.
Blasting within the existing approved extraction area would enable the efficient extraction of materials that cannot be recovered mechanically.
The Ardmore Park Quarry has been operating since 2009 and supplies construction materials to the Southern Tablelands and broader NSW market.
According to a Modification Report lodged as part of the application, blasting has become necessary “due to the unexpected occurrence of one particularly hard basalt module in the centre of the Approved Extraction Area and the possibility of similar areas being encountered as the pit progresses north”.
The module was not identified in site specific mapping at the time the project was originally approved.
The report acknowledges concerns raised during the stakeholder and community engagement process but says the impacts of blasting would be “minor, localised and manageable”.
“Overall environmental impacts are not significant and are comparable in scale and nature to those already approved for the quarry,” it said.
Blasting would be subject to a ‘robust framework of controls’ and would only occur six times a year.
Concerns raised during the engagement process related primarily to noise, vibration and property impacts as well as groundwater and environment risks.
The application is currently on public exhibition with submissions to close on September 25.
The application and accompanying documents can be viewed online at www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects
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