Fine Aggregate Production and Its Environmental Impact In Ethiopia

The production of fine aggregate is not the extraction of the mineral from the source alone but basically involves a number of steps starting from the exploration, mining, processing, transporting and finally reclamation. A site visit to three different quarries in the Rift Valley area of Ethiopia was made along with interviews. From the site visits it has been understood that the production of fine aggregates in the rift valley area of Ethiopia is still in the primitive stage. It does not coincide with the standards with respect to production process, quality, and production capacity. The environmental impacts that fine aggregate production brings about are hardly known in the country.