ABSTRACT
This book is intended to provide an introduction to the assessment, extraction, processing and environmental management of soil and rock construction materials, from a geological perspective. These geomaterials are sometimes referred to as low-cost resources, or as a category of industrial minerals. In Australia the producers of quarried products are known collectively as the extractive industries. Geomaterials differ from other mineral commodities in many ways: their widespread, though uneven, distribution; the large volumetric demand for them, concentrated around urban areas; their low ex-pit value, because substitutes can always be found; and, consequently, their sensitivity to transport costs. Large and high-quality geomaterial deposits far from cities are worthless, while inferior materials close to customers are often upgraded.
