Open-pit mining in Santa Olalla del Cala (Huelva) to obtain granitoids as ornamental stone.

The Santa Olalla del Cala pluton, in the Ossa-Morena Zone, is very important from the point of view of ornamental rocks because it contains natural stone quarries. It is a variscan granitoid, medium to coarse-grained, dark grey, biotitic, with few enclaves and not very pervasive cleavage.

The extraction of granite as an ornamental rock is carried out by blasting with little destructive power or diamond wire cutting, both for the extraction of the primary block and for its subdivision, in one or several fronts which in turn may have one or several benches.