The fully consented quarry land, crushing/drying plant, heavy quarrying machinery and retail business are for sale asa freehold property and going concern business.
Featured in Bayleys' latest Total Property portfolio magazine they are now being marketed for sale for $1.75m throughBayleys Napier.
Salesperson Rodger Howie says with dairy and meat farms constantly looking for more environmentally-friendly ways of increasing grass and pasture management procedures, the practice of lime application has grown substantially over the past decade.
"Browns Quarry is estimated by mining analyst company Arcadia Resources Ltd to contain between five and seven million tonnes of lime. The highest annual lime production from the quarry in the past 20 years has been 35,000 tonnes, so there is still plenty of rock which is prime for excavation, crushing and direct sales to the consumer," Howie says.
"It's unlikely this quarry will run out of lime in the foreseeable future as the existing face and cuttings are exposing substantial depth and width of commercial high grade lime.
"Brown's Lime Quarry has a distinct market advantage, being the only lime producing quarry in the North Island which uses a drying plant in the processing. This process makes its lime the most even-spreading and free flowing lime on the market.
"Customers — who are predominantly farmers — phone in their orders directly through to the quarry operators for processing and delivery. The company has a database of about 300 customers — with around 25 per cent rated as 'regulars'," Howie says
"The hourly lime production rate utilising the current plant is up to 70 tonnes per hour — being run along a small owner/operator business model — employing the owner and two other full-time personnel. With existing open cast excavation infrastructure and faces in place, and room for the addition of more plant and machinery, there is considerable potential to bolster output levels.
Lime is the most common soil preparation used on New Zealand farms, and is applied primarily to neutralise acidification in the soil. Acidification occurs in all farmed soils, caused by normal biological processes, such as nitrogen fixation, nitrate leaching and photosynthesis.
The more intensively land is farmed, the greater the rate of acidification. The process is also accelerated by higher rainfall, due to increased leaching.
Browns Lime Quarry is certified under the Fertiliser Quality Council's FERTMARK quality control programme for producing high quality agricultural lime with more than 90 per cent calcium.
"With numerous drought and near-drought scenarios impacting on Lower North Island regions over the past decade, water retention in soil has become ever more critical for farmers, and is one of the reasons why Brown's Lime Quarry has prospered," Howie says,
"Use of lime can improve the absorption of rainfall into soil. This can be particularly important on dry hill country with the rain absorbing into the soil faster rather than running off the surface."
Buildings within Brown's Lime Quarry comprise a 1440sq m steel shed housing the crusher, conveyer and dryer unit, while also providing cover for the uncrushed lime and machinery storage. Two smaller sheds and three lockable containers – individually used as an office, small workshop and general storeroom — are also part of the offering.
Plant and machinery assets being sold in association with the quarry include a Cat digger, a loader, dump truck, two crushers, a lime dryer, screening unit, and various tools and spare mechanical parts.
Howie says Brown's Quarry benefits from being surrounded by sheep and beef grazing land, with no residential dwellings in close proximity: "So any move to increase production output would have minimal environmental impact."
