F.J. Cochicho & Filho LDA is part of a three-company consortium that operates an open-area pit quarry, which at the time of Stone World’s visit was 150 meters deep. The site — located in Vila Vicosa, Portugal — is 32 years old.

When the quarry was first opened in the mid-1980s, explosives were used in the extraction process. Now the companies working the quarry use diamond wire, which takes two days to cut the marble blocks. The life of the diamond wire lasts 600 to 700 square meters.