DESCRIPTION OF MARBLE & GRANITE PROCESSING

Processing of Marble:
The Rough Marble Blocks that are received from Marble Quarries are unloaded from the trucks that
transport them, in the Block Yard using a Gantry Crane.

The Blocks are inspected by qualified inspectors for defects. Blocks with major defects are stored
separately or sent back to the quarry. Blocks that pass the inspection are then checked and a planned
for a squaring operation using a Stationery Wire Saw machine. During this operation a Block Tilter is also
put to use if necessary.

Normally, the Blocks are dressed/squared on the Top surface and bottom surface using a Stationary
Wire Saw machine. Sometimes, if the Blocks are too wide or too uneven then the sides also are dressed
using the same Stationery Wire Saw machine. The purpose of the dressing operation is to prepare the
Blocks for sawing / primary cutting operation. In this process blocks are cut down into slabs of various
thickness as required by the market.

The dressed Blocks from the Wire Saw machine are stored separately. These blocks are then loaded on
to a Gang Saw Block Trolley. The blocks that are loaded on to the Wire saw Block Trolley are set by
means of cement /plaster of Paris (POP) after providing ample/suitable packing below to make the Block
stable and balanced. The Block Trolley is moved under the Wire saws by means of the Transfer Trolley
winch and pulleys.

A Marble Gang Saw is armed with the necessary number of blades based on the production program.
The thickness of the slabs can be set by using relevant spacers between the blades. The Blades used in a
marble gang saw are high tensile steel blades equipped with diamond segments. The sawing occurs
along the height of the block and normally is completed in one stretch. The time taken for sawing
depends on the hardness of the material, the type and quality of the blade and diamond segment. The
usual sawing time for materials from Rajasthan is between 8 – 10 hours. The change over time is
between 2 - 4 hours.

Once the sawing is completed till the bottom of the block, the Block Trolley is carefully removed from
under the Blade Frame and out of the gang saw. The Block Trolley and the slabs are thoroughly washed
with clean water to eliminate all sludge and mud.

The slabs are allowed to dry as much as possible to minimize the moisture which will make the slabs
easier to handle and proceed with the next process. In case of very fragile material the slabs are
separated on the trolley and a first step of reinforcement is carried out by the application of a
reinforcement mat on the bottom face of the slabs.
In the case of sound slabs, they are loaded on to the resin line to dry and to apply reinforcement net to
the bottom face. The reinforced slabs are then loaded on to a grinding and polishing machine that are
equipped with abrasive tools to carry out the process of honing or surface preparation. Thus prepared
slabs are then treated with Epoxy resin or mastics to embellish the surface or repair any natural crevices
or holes. The treated slabs are then cured / the resins catalyzed in a Resin Line. The treated and cured
slabs are then loaded on to the grinding and polishing line to impart a very high level of mirror polish.

The slabs that come out after the “mirror polishing” are inspected once again, for any processing
deficiencies and those slabs that need to be re-worked are sent back to the start of the polishing
process. The slabs that pass the rigorous inspection / quality control are sent to the finished slabs
storage area. The finished slabs ready for sale are stored on “A Frames”.

Based on the customer’ order and delivery schedule slabs from the finished slab storage area are packed
into wooden crates for eventual shipment to the clients destination.

In certain cases, the orders will be for cut to size and in such cases the slabs are loaded on to a Bridge
saw and cut to size as per the order and packed into wooded crates for shipping.

Processing of Granite Slabs:

The general method of processing granite is quite similar to that of marble, described above. The
difference comes in the type of machine used for the primary cutting operation and the tools used in the
grinding and polishing operations.

The rough blocks that arrive from the quarries are dressed and loaded on to the Block Holding trolley’ of
the Granite Multi-Wire Saw. The granite Multi-wire saw uses wires that carry diamond beads plasticized
on to it as a cutting tool. The average cutting cycle for materials from Rajasthan are between 8 – 10
hours on this type of machine. Once the sawing is completed the slabs and trolley are thoroughly
cleaned with water.

The sawn slabs are then reinforced on its bottom surface with a Glass Fiber Net applied with Epoxy resin
and catalyzed in the Resin Line. The reinforced slabs are then passed through a grinding and polishing
line to carry out honing and preparing the top surface for Resin treatment. The slabs are treated on its
top surface with suitable Epoxy Resins to embellish its surface and repair any structural deficiencies.

The Honed slabs are dried in the Drying section of the Resin Line for at least 60 minutes at a
temperature of 45 – 50 o Centigrade to remove all humidity.
These dried slabs are then applied with a thin coating of Epoxy Resin. The slabs thus treated are sent to
the drying chamber/ catalysis chamber to harden the Epoxy Resin. The catalyzed slabs are unloaded
from the resin Line and stored. Such slabs stored for 24 hours for proper curing of the resins and they
are ready for Polishing.

The resined and cured slabs are then loaded on the Polishing Machine which has a suitable series of
abrasives to impart a highly glossy “mirror polish” to the slabs.

The Slabs which come out of the Polishing machine are inspected and stored on “a Frames” in the
Storage Area for further for packing and shipping.

Some of the slabs which have been polished will need to be cut to size depending on the order from
customers. This is done with the help of the Bridge/Edge Cutting machine.

The granite slabs or tiles thus manufactured are ready for packing and dispatch/export.