SLATE
The slate deposit belonging to Villar del Rey Natural Stones S.L. is one of the oldest slate mining operations in Europe and possibly the largest. It is located in a unique geological formation in the world, in the Badajoz town of Villar del Rey. This quarry was mined by the Romans 2000 years ago who extracted slate in Villar del Rey to help build Emérita Augusta (today the nearby city of Merida), as can be seen by its historic monuments.
There is also evidence that these ancient quarries have been mined in a more or less organised way for the last 300 years. Villar del Rey slates have been used for at least the last 150 years to cover the roofs of many of Spain’s historic buildings, some of which still have their original slates.
The slate deposit is located in the general zoning of the Hesperian Massif, on the boundary between the Central Iberian and Ossa Morena zones; and more specifically within the regional macrostructure of Sao Mamede – La Codosera, which has materials from the Ordovician to Devonian periods. The deposit is part of the Middle Devonian slate quarry, covering a small area within the materials of this period.
It forms a vertical axial plane slate syncline bordered by a diabase sill (also in operation). It is crossed by the Guerrero fault which, with a strike slip of 600 metres, transects the syncline. The shape of the syncline is long and narrow, with an approximate East-West direction (N-110º-E).
It is made up of strong folded sedimentary rock with alternating levels of productive and sterile slate, both in a sub-vertical position. 55% of the deposit can be exploited.
The productive levels vary in thickness between 0.6 m and 3.5 m and consist of highly homogeneous, compact and resistant ampelitic black slate which can be easily split into thin slices across the foliation planes. As shown over time by the drilling carried out, these levels have great longitudinal continuity, with the pillars erected on the quarry faces correlating with those of the test drilling. The quarry produces up to 24,000 tons of slate tiles a year.
There are estimated proven reserves of more than 9 million m³, recognised by physical processes directly in the drilling work. Only those slate levels that have been mined and whose industrial performance is known are included.
GRANITE
La existencia de una masa rocosa de diabasas en la proximidades de Villar del Rey con buenas condiciones de afloramiento, situación geográfica y accesibilidad apropiadas, y con muy buenas cualidades geotécnicas para su utilización ornamental y para la fabricación de áridos ha motivado su explotación desde los años 90.
La masa rocosa explotada pertenece a un sill de diabasas encajadas en un macizo rocoso compuesto de pizarras y filitas pertenecientes a la Unidad Sao-Mamede – La Codosera – Puebla de Obando, en la Zona Centro Ibérica (ZCI), todo ello enmarcado dentro del Macizo Hespérico.
Se trata de rocas compactas de color oscuro; hacia el centro del dique son masivas y presentan disyunción en bolos, en los bordes adquieren una fábrica anisótropa. Todo apunta a que la génesis de estas rocas diabásicas sea volcánico.
La edad de estas rocas no está determinada pero se le puede asignar una edad Carbonífero Inferior.
Nuestra explotación tiene una canterabilidad media. El tamaño de bloque estándar tiene unas medidas aproximadas de 2,20 x 1,30 x 1,30 m, obteniéndose bloques de hasta 3,50 x 1,40 x 1,50 m
La estimación de reservas probadas es superior a 104 millones de M3.
Las canteras de pizarra y de granito de Villar del Rey sólo han explotado hasta la actualidad una pequeña parte de este gran yacimiento.
