Product Description:- Lime is used in different industries. For example, it is used as a gravel material for road construction, cement block making, burnt lime for agriculture and as inputs in the chemical industry.
2. Rational:- Deposits of limestone are known to exist in some localities of the Amhara Region. However, these deposits are not exploited to produce lime that could be used for various purposes. As a result, all the lime requirement of the Region is met by imports from other parts of the country or from abroad. Lime is one of those bulky products whose transport cost becomes prohibitive for transporting it long distances. It is a local product for localized use. Considering its importance in the construction industry and in agriculture, lime is one of those products that the Amhara Region should become self- sufficient.
3. Market Potential:- Annual Production of lime and burnt lime in the country is about 11,000 tons. If we assume that 25 percent of the production is the share of the Amhara Region, demand for lime will be 2,750 tons in the Region. Hence this is the minimum demand of the product in the Amhar Region.
4. Sources of Raw Material:- Limestone is a type of rock found in many localities of the Amhara Region. Sufficient deposits of limestone are found in most of these localities. The most appropriate sources of limestone are those which are close to major urban centers and located along main roads.
5. Production Process & Technology:- Crushing of limestone from a quarry, separating the crushed limestone by size using sieve machines in to three grades of grain size. One grade with smallest grain size is used for road construction, and in the concrete industry, agriculture and chemical industry. The other grade with grain size of 30-80mm is used as a raw material for the processing of burnt lime. The third grade with grain size 80-400mm is further crushed to a size of 0-80 mm which then is moved back to the intake sieve. If the plant is to produce burnt lime another process will follow after the production of lime of size of 30-80mm.
Required machinery and equipment for the limestone quarry operation only with a capacity of 30 ton/hour include frontloader with 1.5cm.m shovel, compressor with 3 hammer drills, bunker, serve- machine, jaw-cousher and conveyor belts.
6. Estimated Investment:- For the capacity mentioned above, the machinery cost will be about Birr 2.3 million.
7. Benefits:- Support the construction, agriculture and the leather industry sectors, utilizes a natural resource of the Region, saves financial resources of the Region, introduces new skills and technology to the Region.
8 Location:- Any location which is close to the raw material source and which is a long or near a major all-weather road.