Welsh Slate to Reopen Two Quarries

By Be Natural.  

New jobs will be created thanks to the reopening of the Ffestiniog and Cwt y Bugail quarries in Wales.  

Welsh Slate, a global supplier of quality slate, has announced that they will soon be reopening two slate quarries. With the reopenings, there will be nineteen new jobs created. Later on, the company also has plans to expand their operations in Penrhyn, which will create another ten jobs. The prospective twenty-nine new job openings is fantastic news for their future successes.  

Director, Michael Hallé, said the company needs young people “coming into the quarry and seeing it as an opportunity as a career going forward.” 

“We’re very, very keen to develop that,” he added. 

Welsh Slate works with colleges and schools and has programs to encourage apprenticeship schemes. 

Plans to extract 250,000 tonnes of Penrhyn purple slate were approved in November. The decision extends the life of the quarry to the end of 2035. 

The news of Welsh Slate’s expansion and plans to create new jobs has been welcomed. 

Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP, Liz Saville Roberts, said: “This is good news for Blaenau Ffestiniog with the reopening of the Ffestiniog and Cwt y Bugail quarries and the creation of 19 new jobs for the local economy. 

“Cwt y Bugail has been producing slate since 1840 and it is exciting to see the site being developed once again for the extraction and processing of Welsh slate. 

“I recently met representatives from Breedon at Chwarel y Minffordd to discuss their future investment plans. 

“The growing demand for Welsh slate is directly contributing to the creation and protection of local jobs – underscoring the continued value of slate to our local and national economies.” 

Welsh Slate supplies slate worldwide for a range of exterior and interior design applications. 

It owns and operates the famous Penrhyn and Cwt-y-Bugail quarries in north Wales and has been supplying the world with high quality slate for hundreds of years. 

Penrhyn Quarry has been producing roofing slate since the 13th century and has been the center and the focal point for UK natural stone for over 700 years. It became the world’s largest slate quarry in the 19th, when it employed more than 2,500 people. The industrial minerals plant in Ffestiniog supplies the UK and Europe. 

Welsh Slate is a part of the Breedon Group plc which is the largest independent construction materials group in the UK. 

Learn more about the National Slate Association (NSA) at their Coffee Shop Directory or slateassociation.org. 

Original article source: Be Natural