The finest granite in the world. That’s how Adrian Phillips, the new owner of DeLank Quarry in Cornwall, describes the stone from his latest acquisition. And, he says, many customers will be surprised at how low the price of it is.

Everything at DeLank Quarry is heavyweight. It has to be to cope with the granite that is being won from the quarry on Bodmin Moor – one of the hardest, densest granites in the world.

In the quarry, there is hardly any blasting these days, the granite being cut from the face instead using a Pelligrini wire saw. That was not possible until after 2007, when the hefty Scotch Derrick crane that lifts the blocks out of the quarry was moved back 20m, exposing a new area to be worked. The wire saw went in during 2008.

Until 2007, the derrick had stood in the same place at the top of the quarry for 20 years and it was already 20 years old when it was taken to DeLank, having previously worked at Bristol docks unloading ships.

Dismantling it four years ago gave the quarry the opportunity to refurbish it, including replacing all the electrics and the steel wire ropes – a necessary procedure because it will probably be at least another 15 years before it is moved again. That is how long it will take to extract the stone that has been made available by moving the crane.

The bench currently being worked is around 15m below the crane, although the crane can reach down to more than 36m. It can lift 25tons, which is about 9m3 of stone.

But much larger blocks of the granite can be extracted. The biggest ever was 167tons. To lift it, one of the biggest cranes in Europe had to be brought in. It was the same crane that had lifted the roof on to Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. It took 20 lorries to transport it to Cornwall to be assembled in the quarry. That was also in 2007. The block extracted from the face was estimated to weigh about 450tons. The 167ton block lifted from the quarry was split off from that using stitch drilling and black powder.

Once it was clear of the quarry it stayed where it was while 10 masons spent the next two years reducing it to the 70ton ‘Seed’ (pictured in the quarry on the next page) designed by sculptor Peter Randell-Page. The Seed is now at the Eden Project in Cornwall.

That was clearly an exceptional case but it indicates the potential of the stone. Peter Randall-Page spent a year scouring the quarries of Europe to find the stone he wanted and could find nothing that could better the DeLank granite on the doorstep of the Eden project.

It is not only in the quarry that heavyweight machinery is to be found. The processing sheds also have their fair share. There are three GMM Giga primary saws with 3m blades and a 2.5m Spielvogel slabbing the stone for six secondaries (two Terzago RJSs, two GMM Axias, a Gregori Impala and a Zambon Rover), as well as polishing and finishing lines, courtesy of previous owners Ennstone, who built the sheds and put in most of the kit.

Some of it was added in order to be able to process the stone quickly enough for the Gustafson Porter Diana Memorial installed in Hyde Park in 2004. There were some large pieces of stone in that, as well – some of them so big that the primaries had to be used for profiling.

It is because the stone is so strong that it has been so widely used for building. It has traditionally been used for the plinths below the Portland limestone walls of buildings in London, as well as for paving, walling and masonry throughout Cornwall. But being hard makes working it slow.

Just how hard it is has been emphasised in the five months since Adrian Phillips, the owner of Black Mountain Quarries in Herefordshire, bought DeLank and the neighbouring quarry, Hantergantick. Ian Skinner, the Quarry Manager at DeLank who, like everyone else there, has been retained by the new owners, says the drop on the saws is usually 5mm for the granite but that that increases to 50mm a pass for Black Mountain’s Callow sandstone.

Among the attractions of DeLank to Adrian Phillips was its workshops, which have enabled him to bring all his processing in-house. He says DeLank and Black Mountain fitted nicely together because Black Mountain needed processing capabilities and DeLank needed more work to keep its saws busy. “DeLank are now busy because of Black Mountain and Black Mountain are busy because DeLank can process our stone. The two businesses join together very sweetly. Black Mountain are sales based and DeLank are production based.”

Normally, the red sandstone from Callow Quarry, one of three sandstone quarries operated by Black Mountain, is considered a hard and aggressive stone to saw, but at DeLank they go through it like a knife through butter using the segments developed by Diamant Boart to saw the granite.

DeLank are also sawing Pennant sandstone at the moment and Adrian says he is happy to take on contract sawing for the trade.

Being so hard that processing is slow reflects of the price of the finished product for obvious reasons. And the price gap between DeLank and granite imported from China has taken its toll on demand for the Cornish granite, especially in London. But the pendulum is swinging back in DeLank’s favour.

A lot of work and investment has gone into improving efficiency at DeLank at the same time as price rises, exchange rates and shipping costs have added to the cost of Chinese products. Many people would be surprised to discover how little difference there is in price between Cornish granite and Chinese these days.

There is also a hydroelectric generator being installed at the quarry that will not only improve the already low carbon footprint of the stone, it will also cut the energy bill.

Broadcasting the message that DeLank is competitive on price – and even that it is still available at all following the liquidation of former owners Ennstone (given how quickly misinformation circulates) – is a priority of the new owners.

They plan to achieve that with a number of marketing activities and by increasing the product range so the granite becomes familiar to a wider audience.

They have already had a good reception to the cropped products they have started selling, which can compete on price with imports, and in the next year or so Adrian wants to install a paving line, possibly at Hantergantick.

Space is a luxury the quarries enjoy. Although a lot of land is needed to store block waiting to be processed and finished product waiting to be delivered, DeLank covers 32acres and Hantergantick another 12. Not all of it is easily available, but enough of it is to allow for some expansion yet.

When Adrian took over DeLank he said he wanted to explore all areas of use for the granite and one area of potential is clearly interiors. DeLank is used for worktops, fireplaces and floors, but not often. An interiors product range might be developed but it is for the future. “At the moment we’re flat out,” says Adrian.

Most of the granite currently being produced is for up-market developments, maintenance and extensions in the South West, which is still a popular area for wealthy people to move to – because they are high end projects they use top quality materials. DeLank is also supplying a lot of hard landscaping products for a major regeneration at St Austell.

The extra activity at DeLank has already created one more job there, bringing the number of employees up to 14. Another will be recruited shortly and the plan is to take on some apprentices.

The people at DeLank have considerable knowledge and understanding of the granite but staff turnover is low and the workforce is ageing. Apprentices will help ensure that the skills are passed on to a new generation.