We have been out and about to visit the limestone quarry and cement factory of the Leida Group in Anhui Province. Leida is based in Dongtai (Jiangsu) and integrated vertically by adding mining operations. The high grade limestone goes into PVC manufacturing which is invested by Anhui SASAC and is trucked out from the site. Lower grades go via a 2 km covered conveyer into cement manufacturing. Rest heat is used in two turbines and fed into the grid. From there the cement which is not used locally, is shipped to Jiangsu. The pier is still under construction, but it will be the largest pier of Anhui Province. Also the mining, is the largest quarry in Anhui.

As I have worked in the mining industry before, I felt quite at home on site. Very nice to see how well managed it is. It has been a long time for me, since I was the little man with the Land Rover Defender, installing and operating monitoring equipment in UK coal quarries. Even my client, British Coal, does not exist any more. 25 years passed. But I always enjoyed doing real things, like moving mountains.