At Taben-Rodt Quarry, Lower Devonian hard rock is extracted and processed to high-grade chippings, track ballast and aggregates. The rock is loosened by means of large-diameter borehole blasting and then repeatedly crushed and sized. As a by-product, a fine-grained mineral blend with a particle size < 0.6 mm is produced, which is supplied to the ceramics industry under the commercial name lateritic earth. The quarry has been worked since the 1950s by the Johann Düro company and has a working height of around 220 metres at present. From the north to the south, it...