MineGuessr – Tunstead, UK’s largest limestone quarry

MineGuessr Advent Calendar 2025 – Door 16

Tunstead Quarry is one of the sites featured in our 2025 MineGuessr mining advent calendar. Each December day, we reveal a new mining satellite timelapse and invite you to guess the mine from satellite imagery of mines across the UK and Europe.

On this page, we provide a concise, professional overview of Tunstead – its location, geology, operational history and role in the raw materials value chain. The satellite timelapse helps illustrate how a large limestone quarry and cement complex grows over decades, supporting raw materials education around industrial minerals, cement and construction materials.

Tunstead limestone quarry and cement works near Buxton, Derbyshire, UK

Overview & location

Tunstead Quarry lies a few kilometres east of Buxton in Derbyshire, on the edge of England’s Peak District. It is operated by Tarmac and is widely recognised as the largest limestone quarry in the UK, covering around 840 acres and extracting between 5 and 6 million tonnes of limestone per year. A significant share of this high-purity stone feeds the on-site cement works, with the rest sold as aggregates and industrial limestone products.

The Tunstead site actually comprises two adjacent quarries – Tunstead (opened in 1929) and Old Moor (developed in the mid-1980s) – separated by a valley and linked by an internal haul road and rail infrastructure. Their economic importance is such that when the Peak District National Park was created, the boundary was drawn to exclude the quarry complex, even though it sits immediately next to nationally protected landscapes.

In the MineGuessr context, Tunstead is our archetypal “superquarry”: a multi-pit limestone operation with an integrated cement and lime plant, long internal haul roads, and a distinctive rail link exporting product across the UK.

Geology & deposit type

Tunstead exploits high-purity Carboniferous limestone in the “White Peak” area of the Derbyshire Dome. These limestones formed in a warm, shallow sea over 300 million years ago, when thick accumulations of shells and marine skeletons were compacted and lithified.

Key geological features include:

Host units: Mainly Woo Dale and Bee Low Limestone formations of the Lower Carboniferous, characterised by high-purity carbonate (typically <3% dolomite and <1% chert in the wider Buxton area).
Product quality: The stone is suitable for use as “chemical stone”, industrial limestone, aggregate and cement raw meal thanks to its high CaCO₃ content and low impurity levels.
Structural setting: The quarry benches expose gently dipping, massive limestone beds cut by joints and minor faults, typical of the Derbyshire Dome block.

For MineGuessr, Tunstead represents a large industrial carbonate deposit – a different type of “orebody” from the sulphide and gold mines elsewhere in the calendar, but just as critical for modern infrastructure.

What the mining satellite timelapse shows

The mining satellite timelapse for Tunstead (1984–2022) compresses several decades of expansion into a few seconds. Quarrying started long before the first satellite frames, but the imagery captures how the operation scales up to today’s superquarry footprint.

1980s – established quarry and cement works

By the mid-1980s, Tunstead was already a major source of high-purity limestone, supplying chemical stone and cement raw material from an open pit carved into the Great Rocks Dale area.
The on-site cement plant, first developed in the mid-20th century, was operating alongside lime production and aggregate processing.

On the early timelapse frames, you see a substantial pit and plant complex, with bright limestone faces standing out sharply against the surrounding farmland and moorland.

1990s – expansion and Old Moor development

During the late 1980s and 1990s, quarrying extended into Old Moor, creating a second large void that now forms part of the integrated Tunstead operation.
Production volumes increased toward the current 5–6 Mt/y range, supported by upgraded crushing, conveying and rail load-out infrastructure.

In the timelapse, this appears as the opening and rapid deepening of an adjacent pit, plus new internal roads, haul routes and processing areas.

2000s – modern cement plant and higher efficiency

After decades of operation, the original Buxton cement plant was replaced by a modern, energy-efficient facility on the Tunstead site, significantly increasing clinker and cement capacity while improving emissions performance.
The combined operation became one of the largest cement-producing facilities in Europe, tightly integrated with the quarry for raw materials supply.

From space, you can pick out expansion of the kiln line, raw material blending and storage areas, and changes to stockpiles and internal rail networks.

2010s–2020s – superquarry footprint and biodiversity focus

By the 2010s, Tunstead’s twin pits had coalesced into a single superquarry footprint in Great Rocks Dale, with multiple working faces, internal ramps and large overburden areas.
Tarmac and partners implemented a Biodiversity Management Plan, including the creation and management of calcareous grassland, wetland areas and restored benches as part of long-term quarry restoration.
Recent projects have focused on enhancing species-rich limestone grassland and integrating restoration with the surrounding Peak District landscape.

In the latest satellite frames, you see active working areas alongside partially restored faces and benches, plus patches of green that mark emerging grassland and habitat projects on previously disturbed ground.

Mining method & processing – how the rock moves

Tunstead is a large-scale drill-and-blast limestone quarry supplying an integrated lime and cement complex, as well as aggregates:

Quarrying: Bench blasting in massive limestone; rotary drills, explosives and large hydraulic excavators or wheel loaders feeding heavy-duty haul trucks.
Crushing & screening: Primary and secondary crushers reduce run-of-quarry rock to graded sizes for cement raw meal, industrial limestone products and construction aggregates.
Cement manufacture: High-purity limestone is blended with shale or other minor constituents, ground to raw meal and fired in kilns to produce clinker, which is then ground into Portland limestone cement.
Logistics: A dedicated rail link and internal quarry railway move large tonnages from the pits to the cement works and onward to regional and national construction markets.

Operationally, Tunstead is a textbook example of a vertically integrated industrial minerals site – quarry, lime, cement and aggregates all in one complex.

Role in the raw materials value chain & energy transition

Tunstead sits at the heart of the UK’s construction materials supply chain:

It supplies high-purity limestone for cement, lime and aggregates, feeding infrastructure, housing, industrial facilities and transport networks across the country.
Its products underpin everything from concrete and asphalt to soil stabilisation, flue-gas treatment and various chemical processes.

Cement and lime are energy- and CO₂-intensive products, but they are also essential for the energy transition – from wind-farm foundations and grid infrastructure to public transport and resilient buildings. Sites like Tunstead are therefore at the centre of Tarmac’s and CRH’s efforts to:

Improve fuel efficiency and alternative fuel use in kilns.
Optimise clinker substitution and lower-carbon cements.
Deliver biodiversity gain and high-quality habitat creation on restored quarry land, particularly calcareous grassland and associated limestone dales habitats.

For MineGuessr, Tunstead helps frame a key message: industrial mineral quarries are as critical to the built environment as metal mines are to batteries and grids.

What to look for in the MineGuessr timelapse

As you watch the Tunstead satellite timelapse, see if you can spot:

The twin-pit geometry of Tunstead and Old Moor gradually evolving into a single large superquarry footprint.
The expansion of working faces, haul ramps and overburden areas as annual production increases toward 5–6 Mt/y.
Changes and upgrades to the cement works and rail infrastructure, reflecting modernisation and increased capacity.
Early signs of restoration and calcareous grassland creation on some benches and quarry margins as biodiversity projects ramp up.

MineGuessr perspective – why this quarry was included

We selected Tunstead Quarry for the MineGuessr mining advent calendar because it:

Is the largest limestone quarry in the UK and one of Europe’s largest integrated lime and cement complexes.
Provides a clear satellite record of how a long-life industrial minerals quarry expands and modernises over several decades.
Shows how large quarries are increasingly expected to deliver biodiversity gains and high-quality restoration, not just raw materials.

In our GeoGuessr-style mine guessing game, Tunstead helps spark conversations about industrial limestone, cement decarbonisation and quarry restoration in a mature European jurisdiction.

Throughout December, keep opening a new door every day and explore all 24 sites featured this year on the main MineGuessr mining advent calendar page.

Day 1 - Aitik (Sweden, copper-gold open pit)
A large, low-grade copper operation south of Gällivare
👉 Open Door 1 - Aitik
Day 2 - Björkdal (Sweden, gold)
Gold mine near Skellefteå, combining open-pit and underground mining.
👉 Open Door 2 - Björkdal
Day 3 - Kemi (Finland, chrome)
Chrome mine in northern Finland, Europe’s only chromite operation.
👉 Open Door 3 - Kemi
Day 4 - Ørtfjell (Norway, iron ore)
Iron ore mine in Norway’s Dunderland Valley, evolving from large open pits to underground mining.
👉 Open Door 4 - Ørtfjell
Day 5 - Trimouns (France, talc)
World’s largest working talc quarry high in the French Pyrenees above Luzenac.
👉 Open Door 5 - Trimouns
Day 6 - Skouries (Greece, copper-gold porphyry)
High-grade copper–gold porphyry project in the forests of Halkidiki, still under construction.
👉 Open Door 6 - Skouries
Day 7 - Las Cruces (Spain, copper)
High-grade hydromet copper mine in the Iberian Pyrite Belt north-west of Seville.
👉 Open Door 7 - Las Cruces
Day 8 - Assarel–Medet (Bulgaria, copper)
Twin porphyry copper open pits in the Panagyurishte district, from Europe’s former largest open-pit copper mine at Medet to today’s modern Assarel operation.
👉 Open Door 8 - Assarel–Medet
Day 9 - Glomel (France, andalusite)
World-class andalusite open-pit quarry in Brittany’s Montagnes Noires, supplying refractory minerals for Europe’s steel, foundry, cement and glass industries.
👉 Open Door 9 - Glomel
Day 10 - Parnassos–Ghiona (Greece, bauxite)
Karst-type bauxite mines in the Parnassos–Ghiona mountains, a historic alumina feedstock district supplying Greece’s aluminium industry.
👉 Open Door 10 - Parnassos–Ghiona
Day 11 - Kittilä (Finland, gold)
Europe’s largest primary gold mine at the Suurikuusikko orogenic gold deposit north of the Arctic Circle.
👉 Open Door 11 - Kittilä
Day 12 - Oltenia Energy Complex (Romania, lignite)
Cluster of large open-pit lignite mines and mine-mouth power plants in Gorj County, now at the centre of Romania’s coal phase-out and just transition plans.
👉 Open Door 12 - Oltenia Energy Complex
Day 13 - Cornwall china clay (UK)
Historic Imerys china clay pits near St Austell, where bright white kaolin benches and tips reshape “Clay Country” over decades of mining and restoration.
👉 Open Door 13 - Cornwall china clay
Day 14 - Aggeria–Agia Irini (Greece, bentonite)
Overlapping bentonite open pits on the volcanic island of Milos, anchoring one of Europe’s key industrial minerals districts.
👉 Open Door 14 - Aggeria–Agia Irini
Day 15 - Skouriotissa (Cyprus, copper & hydromet)
Ancient copper mining district in the Troodos ophiolite, now a hydrometallurgical hub processing copper, gold and battery-metal feed.
👉 Open Door 15 - Skouriotissa
Day 17 - Narva (Estonia, oil shale)
Large open-pit oil shale mine in Ida-Viru County, supplying the Narva power plants and reshaping the landscape with strip mining and reclamation.
👉 Open Door 17 - Narva
Day 18 - Sydvaranger (Norway, iron ore)
Arctic banded iron formation at Bjørnevatn near Kirkenes, evolving toward DR-grade magnetite for Europe’s green steel transition.
👉 Open Door 18 - Sydvaranger
Day 19 - Kevitsa (Finland, nickel–copper–PGE)
Multimetal open-pit mine in Finnish Lapland, combining Ni–Cu–PGE production with trolley-assisted haulage for lower-emission mining.
👉 Open Door 19 - Kevitsa
Day 20 - Styrian Erzberg (Austria, iron ore)
Terraced “pyramid” open-pit iron ore mine at Eisenerz, turning 12 Mt of rock into ~3 Mt of ore each year for Austria’s steel industry.
👉 Open Door 20 - Styrian Erzberg
Day 21 - Minas de Alquife (Spain, iron ore)
Europe’s largest open-pit iron ore mine in Granada, restarting in 2020 after two decades of closure to supply high-grade ore to European steelmakers.
👉 Open Door 21 - Minas de Alquife
Day 22 - Siilinjärvi (Finland, phosphate)
EU’s only operating phosphate mine in central Finland, mining an Archean carbonatite for fertiliser-grade apatite and creating distinctive pale tailings and phosphogypsum stacks.
👉 Open Door 22 - Siilinjärvi
Day 23 - Tellnes (Norway, ilmenite/titanium)
World-class ilmenite open pit in the Rogaland Anorthosite Province, supplying TiO₂ pigment feedstock from one of Europe’s largest titanium deposits.
👉 Open Door 23 - Tellnes
Day 24 - Elatsite (Bulgaria, copper–gold porphyry)
High-altitude porphyry copper–gold open pit in Bulgaria’s Srednogorie zone, with ore conveyed under the Balkan Mountains to a separate flotation–tailings complex.
👉 Open Door 24 - Elatsite

About Gosselin Mining

At Gosselin Mining, we regularly work with large open pits and industrial minerals operations like Tunstead: long-life quarries, integrated processing plants, and projects where life-of-quarry planning, ESG performance and land restoration are tightly linked. If you’d like to:

Stress-test a life-of-quarry plan or expansion strategy
Benchmark your limestone or industrial minerals operation against European peers
Integrate biodiversity, closure and rehabilitation into your technical planning

…you’re very welcome to book a meeting with us.