ZIMNIK – LIGHT GRANITE
Zimnik is one of the so-called Strzegom granites. Its deposit is located 10 km to the north-west of Strzegom. According to historical records, there were 5 quarries in this area in 1840, whereas the documented beginning of quarrying in this place was in 1928.
Zimnik is a fine- and medium-grained light-grey granite – the lightest of the Strzegom granites, almost white after flaming. The deposit is variable. Most of it is fine-grained and by selective mining it is possible to achieve repeatable material. It is for this fine-grainedness and repeatability of colour that Zimnik is most valued. It rarely has overgrowth or streaks and its colour pattern is white-grey-black.
The deposit was mined using the deep stack method, and the material was extracted using cranes. The current owner of the deposit, Tinarg, began mining Zimnik in 2012. The old ways of mining by the plunge method were stopped (for economic reasons) at a depth of 100-110 m. The old cranes and hoists were removed and the deposit was switched to newer mining methods: the pit area was enlarged by several hectares, the overburden and the top aggregate layer were removed and block mining began (at a depth of 30 m). In this way the output was increased fivefold with the same size of crew.
At present, approximately half a million tonnes of granite are mined at Zimnik annually, including 100,000 tonnes of material in lumps and blocks, 40% of which is block material for sawing and further processing. Block stripping is carried out by blasting with a detonating cord, and longwall demolition is carried out with loaders and small cranes.
Since the beginning of mining it was used as a raw paving material – cubes, kerbs, slabs. At present, a full range of products and semi-finished products is obtained from Zimnik: slabs for further processing, cut and split paving material, tombstones, a complete range of building elements – slabs for vertical and horizontal cladding, staircase cladding, countertops, sills, floors, small architecture, as well as for all other stone accessories.
The Zimnik deposit also supplies aggregate in various granulations and for various applications, including every type of hydrotechnical stone. The excellent parameters of this stone are confirmed by the fact that this aggregate is also used for railway embankments.
Among the well-known objects in which Zimnik granite has been installed the following can be mentioned: Wroclavia Gallery and the courtyard of the Hilton Hotel in Wrocław; the facade of the Temple of Divine Providence in Warsaw; Piotrkowska Street in Łódź, Łódź-Fabryczna railway station; market squares in Kutno, Rawicz, Bochnia, Tarnów; market square and philharmonic hall in Zielona Góra; Monte Casino in Sopot.
Source: Kurier kamieniarski
Author: Paweł Szambelan | Published: 04. 03. 2021
