Calica
Encyclopedia
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
and a port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
on the Quintana Roo
Quintana Roo
Quintana Roo officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 10 municipalities and its capital city is Chetumal....
coast of Mexico. The name is short for the full Spanish name Calizas Industriales del Carmen, "calizas" Spanish for lime or limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
(cognate to the English "calcite
Calcite
Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite at 380-470°C, and vaterite is even less stable.-Properties:...
.")
The port is primarily used to dock ships for loading aggregate (gravel and sand) used for construction. The Calica quarry was originally part of a joint venture between Vulcan Materials Company
Vulcan Materials Company
Vulcan Materials Company , based in Birmingham, Alabama is principally engaged in the production, distribution and sale of construction materials. Vulcan is the largest producer of construction materials, primarily gravel, crushed stone, and sand, and employs approximately 9,700 people at over 356...
and Grupo ICA, but Vulcan purchased Grupo ICA interest in 2001. The port facilities also serve to dock cruise line ships to access the resort town of Playa del Carmen
Playa del Carmen
Playa del Carmen is a balneario resort city just south of Cancún on the coast of the Caribbean Sea, in the northeast of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The city is the seat of the Solidaridad municipality. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 149,923 people and it is rapidly growing...
, some 10 km (6.2mi) distant. The Calica site, with a port blasted directly into the limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
to accommodate deep draft vessels need to ship the limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
to the US. All of the limestone from Calica approx. 6 million tons annually is exported to the US.
The Calica port itself has little or no services or hotels. Just north of the port is the "ecological theme park" of Xcaret
Xcaret
Xcaret is a Maya civilization archaeological site located on the Caribbean coastline of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the modern-day state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. The site was occupied by the pre-Columbian Maya and functioned as a port for navigation and an important Maya trading center...
, a Mayan tourist destination, archaeological site, and beach.
Although situated on the continental mainland of the Yucatán Peninsula
Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel...
, the Calica facilities are not part of the surrounding municipio (municipality)
Municipalities of Mexico
Municipalities are the second-level administrative division in Mexico . There are 2,438 municipalities in Mexico, making the average municipality population 45,616...
of Solidaridad
Solidaridad, Quintana Roo
Solidaridad is one of the ten municipalities that make up the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is also one of the youngest municipalities in the country and was formed on July 28 of 1993 by decree of the State Congress during the administration of Mario Villanueva Madrid...
. The site (An area of some 11.9ha
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
) along with another neighboring mainland location Xel-Ha is part of the municipality of Cozumel
Cozumel
Cozumel is an island in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen, and close to the Yucatan Channel. Cozumel is one of the ten municipalities of the state of Quintana Roo...
, which has the rest of its land on the island of the same name approximately 20 km (12.4mi) offshore to the east on the other side of the Cozumel Channel in the Caribbean Sea.