Did you know?
28
Nov
Quarrying had its beginnings in New Zealand in pre-European times, when Maori would extract boulders of Pakohe (Argillite) to make sharpened tools. Most argillite deposits and quarries were found around Nelson and Marlborough. Following European settlement, aggregate became vital as a means of ballasting empty ships returning to the motherland and in the late 1800’s hundreds of quarries sprang up all over NZ, often sited no more than the distance a horse and cart could pull a load of aggregate help with forming roads, homes or building sites.