A growing force in stone quarrying

When Brasil Quarries was founded in 1992, it started with a white granite quarry named New Kashmir in the north of Espirito Santo. Over the years, the company acquired other quarries such as Giallo Napoleone, Giallo Florence, Lilas Gerais and Verde Candeias/Arara. And in addition to materials from company-owned quarries, Brasil Quarries also works with other quarries that supply blocks on an exclusive basis. Among these are Giallo Palmeiras/Amarelo Persa BQ, Bordeaux Noveaux and others.

Brasil Quarries is owned by a partnership of Michael KÃ¶nig and Eastern Granit Italy. The company only sells rough granite blocks, and 70% are exported. Italy consumes 40% of sales, followed by Germany at 15%, Asia at 10%, Spain and Portugal at 5% and other countries at 5%. The rest is sold to Brazilian fabricators, which are exporting to the U.S. market.

Brasil Quarries' leading product has been Giallo Napoleone, a yellow granite that has been very popular in the U.S. market. The quarry of Giallo Napoleone is located 5 miles from the village of Vila Pavao and around 145 miles north of Vitoria, the capital of Espirito Santo. It yields over 500 cubic meters of rough blocks per month. KÃ¶nig estimates that 80% of the material from the Giallo Napoleone quarry is ultimately sold to the U.S. market after it is processed in Europe, Asia or Brazil, mostly in 2- and 3-cm slabs and lesser quantities of tiles and cut-to-size pieces.

Cutting is done with a diamond wire saw, and the benches are then drilled and split with wedges and/or expansive cement in blocks. Extraction is actually done in two different quarries. The first and older one is being worked on four different levels, while a second, newer quarry is still in its early stages of production, and workers are developing a new level. In total, the quarry is staffed with 20 workers.

Brasil Quarries' second highest quarry production comes from the Giallo Florence/Itabela site, which is located near the city of Guaratinga in Bahia. This quarry has a production yield of over 200 cubic meters per month. Other quarries, which produce between 100 and 150 cubic meters per month, include the Lilas Gerais quarry in Betania, Minas Gerais, the Branco Napoleone/Napoleone White quarry, located near the village of Vila Pavao, Espirito Santo, and the Sta. Cecilia Dourado quarry, located near the village of Vila Pavao, Espirito Santo.

In 2004, a new stockyard was opened in Serra, near Vitoria, with over 355,000 square feet of area, and the company is building a new office with a showroom this year.