Quarry, place where dimension stone or aggregate (sand, gravel, crushed rock) is mined. The products of dimension stone quarries are prismatic blocks of rock such as marble, granite, limestone, sandstone, and slate. After cutting and polishing, these materials are used in the primary construction of buildings and monuments and also for decorative facing materials applied to the exterior and interior of buildings. Dimension stones are extracted in a highly selective manner, using time-consuming and expensive methods for freeing the blocks from the surrounding rock.

Sand, gravel, and crushed rock quarries employ standard surface-mining techniques. Crushed stone is used for concrete aggregate, for road building, and, in the case of limestone, as flux in blast furnaces and for chemical applications.