Quarrying set to continue for another 40 years at Omya UK's East Yorkshire chalk quarry

Extraction was supposed to stop at Omya UK's quarry at Melton Bottom in 2036, but if the plans are approved it will continue until 2064.

The quarry, which has been running for just over a century, supplies high quality chalk to an adjacent production facility which makes fillers, powders and extenders used in a variety of chemical and industrial applications.

Omya UK, part of Omya Group, a multi-national based in Switzerland, has planning permission to continue quarrying in a northerly direction, but instead wants to quarry to the east where the chalk is better quality.

Documents submitted to East Riding Council state: "The proposed development contains 12.7 million tonnes of chalk in total consisting of 11.9 million tonnes of Welton Chalk and only 0.8 million tonnes of Burnham Chalk.

"The chalk would be worked over a period of 42 years at a rate of 300,000 tonnes per year.

"The current end date for quarry operations of December 12 2036 would need to be extended to December 12 2064 and the restoration end date to December 12 2066."

Around 300,000 tonnes of chalk is extracted from the site every year, which has some 10.3 million tonnes of chalk remaining under the current planning permission. In pre-planning advice the council told the firm last month that “planning policy supports the principal of the proposed development”.

Omya’s largest production facility in the UK, the Melton site employs over 100 people directly or indirectly in the quarry, processing plant and offices.

South Hunsley councillor Julie Abraham said: "I can appreciate the business case for doing this because of the better quality chalk.

"As an employer they have a really good reputation with the local communities around them.

"They are very engaging, they consult fully, and I am quite sure they would take into account any concerns that would be raised.

"I've had no concerns come in my direction."

The chalk was formed in the Late Cretaceous period, some 100 million years ago.

Parts of the site have been recognised as a Geological Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Chalk is a biological limestone, derived from the tiny calcium carbonate shells of foraminifera and the calcareous remains of marine algae.

The underlying, higher quality, Welton Chalk is extracted using explosives.

The documents state: "The quality of the chalk is of fundamental importance to the products that are manufactured and high purity chalk which has a very high whiteness is essential".

Quarrying started in 1922 to supply chalk to the Humber Cement Works.