Page 300 - Introduction to Mineral Exploration

12: CLIFFE HILL QUARRY AGGREGATE RESERVES 283

Railway line to Burton Stud Farm Stanton Lane N M1

West Lane Fig. 12.4 EXTN Billa Barra Lane Cliffe Hill

11 Quarry
Tythe Farm

RWL NQ

Stanton
Street Bardon Processing
under
Plant
Thornton Lane
10 Main
0 500 m
44 45 46 47 48

FIG. 12.2 Cliffe Hill and Stud Farm Quarries, showing the location of some of the borehole sites (dots) and the
proposed new railway line (RWL). The pecked and dotted line represents the outline of the area included in
the planning permission. The pecked line represents the outline of the proposed new quarry (NQ) with the
possible extension shown to the east (EXTN).

land and mineral right holdings on Stud Farm. tween the Triassic Mercia Mudstones and the
The study included a detailed literature search markfieldite. The mudstones are also referred
which indicated that both Billa Barra Hill to to as overburden which generally includes
the northwest, and Stud Farm around 1 km glacial deposits as well.
to the west of the existing quarry might be of The above exercises could be regarded as
potential interest (Fig. 12.1). The 1:63,360 and separate phases or subphases, but since they
1:10,560 Geological Survey maps and the ac- took place in swift succession they have been
count by Evans (1968) of the Precambrian rocks regarded collectively as Phase 1. A cost (exclud-
of Charnwood Forest pointed to additional ing overheads and geologist’s time) of around
areas of diorite near Stud Farm. A well sunk £1500 was incurred for this work.
on Tythe Farm (Fig. 12.2) at the end of the last
century intersected markfieldite at a relatively
shallow depth. 12.3 PHASE 2 – PRE- FEASIBILITY STUDY
Subsequent ground surveys eliminated the
former site as being composed of fine-grained The preliminary desk study had indicated areas
tuff, volcanic breccia, and metasediments, but of interest, but the Stud Farm holdings were
revealed scattered float boulders of mark- insufficient to support a viable quarry (Bell &
fieldite in the soils at the latter site. In view of Hopkins 1988). Negotiations were entered into
the total absence of exposures at Stud Farm, a with the owner of adjacent land. An agreement
few pits were dug using a mechanical digger, was reached which allowed Tarmac access
and although these failed to reach bedrock they to the land for exploratory drilling. A small ex-
confirmed the existence of further pieces of ploration drilling budget was approved and in
markfieldite in the soils. The term bedrock mid 1978 nineteen, 150-mm continuous flight
in this chapter refers to the unconformity be- auger holes were drilled with a Dando 250 top