THE proposed closure of Dean Quarry on the Lizard will be a significant blow to the Falmouth Harbour Commissioners and the pilots as shipping into Dean represents approximately eight per cent of the total pilotage movements for Falmouth.

In a written statement the chief operating officer for RMC Materials Mike Ogden said: "As part of our long-term strategy to strengthen and improve our profitability in the UK I can confirm that we are potentially looking to close parts of Dean Quarry."

The news comes at a time when Falmouth has been hit by a downturn in trade and ship repair activity.

Cemex acquired the RMC Group, operators of Dean Quarry, in March, in a multi-billion dollar deal. Speculation has been rife for the past fortnight that Cemex were planning to close Dean Quarry which is situated five miles south west of Falmouth harbour.

The statistics for Cemex, which owns RMC, show that quarries such as Dean are a small part of their business.

The integration of RMC, CEMEX will have an estimated production capacity of 97 million tons of cement, enhancing its position as the third largest cement company in the world.

CEMEX, with RMC, will be the largest ready mix company in the world, with an estimated production of 77 million cubic metres of ready mix concrete. Additionally, the combined company will become the fourth largest aggregates company in the world.

Quarrying first began at Dean towards the end of the last century and although little stone was used locally for road construction there is evidence that in the early days sailing ships were loaded with stone cargoes for the more distant markets.

The quarry was worked until the Great War but there was little activity from then until the end of the Second World War. L G Tom and Co. started quarrying in 1946 with the prime objective of shipping stone to the London market.

The quarry ports of Dean and Porthoustock are important to the economy of the Lizard peninsula and part of Britain's coastal maritime history.