Stonehills Mine is the first completely new mine on

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

(not a mine as an extension from an existing quarry). Albion Stone Plc began the process to open this mine began in 2015 and reserves are estimated to last for 50 years (2066). The planning application to begin work on Stonehills was submitted to the

Dorset County Council Dorset County Council (DCC) was the county council for the county of Dorset in England. It provided the upper tier of local government, below which were district councils, and town and parish councils. The county council had 46 elected council ...

in February 2001 and was finally approved in February 2005. The site is owned by the

Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...

and the leased by Albion Stone plc who extract

Portland Stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

Whitbed and Portland Stone Basebed. Albion Stone Plc use room and pillar mining method of extraction which is already being carried out in their Jordans mine and Bowers Mine. Stonehills has been broken down into three phases to reach the suitable stone underneath. Phase one involves mainly preparations of the excavation site, including the removal of the top soil and overburden. Prior to the commencements of works Albion Stone ensured all necessary steps were taken; all ecologist surveys have been conducted and an archaeologist is in attendance for all site stripping at all times. Phase one was delayed due to the potential high levels of breeding activity of

Skylarks ''Skylarks'' is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Thornton Freeland and starring Jimmy Nervo, Teddy Knox and Nancy Burne.Low p.386 Nervo and Knox were a comic team, who became associated with the larger Crazy Gang grouping with whom they ...

nearby. Albion Stone are very conscious about their operations on the local environment and the Crown Estate recognised this with a business award in 2013. Phase two is the extraction of the cap stone in front of the main portals to Stonehills Mine. After the extraction of all rubble/overburden in autumn 2015, the remaining Cap, Roach and whitbed is extracted to create a level working area inferno of the mine portals. Phase three is cutting the Whitbed on the face of the wall to form the portals for the mine so the extraction of Stonehills Whitbed and Stonehills Basebed can commence. Albion stone Plc have planted approximately 500 trees and shrubs around the mine to increase the biodiversity of the site. Stonehills Mine

References

{{Reflist Isle of Portland Quarries in Dorset