The Silvi Group purchased the 1,440-acre Belle Mead quarry from the 3M Company, effective June 18. The quarry is located three miles north of Princeton, N.J.

Silvi will operate the Belle Mead quarry under the name Gibraltar Rock of Belle Mead, and plans to begin selling stone to the construction, railroad ballast and jetty rock markets immediately.

“This acquisition fulfills our desire to be vertically integrated and allows us to serve our customers more effectively,” says John Silvi, who co-owns the Silvi Group companies with his brother Larry, “We are equally mindful of our responsibility to the community as a steward of the environment”.

With the concurrent sale of 267 acres of the Belle Mead property to the County of Somerset for preservation and a commitment to donate a circa 1770 house and surrounding land to the Van Harlingen Historical Society, Silvi has made a significant contribution to the preservation of open and historical space. In a separate transaction completed on May 27, Silvi sold 220 acres of land much coveted by preservationists (in West Amwell Township, Hunterdon County, at the Western end of Sourland Mountain), to the New Jersey Green Acres program.

Proven reserves are calculated at 250 million tons. The plant is rated at 1,000 tons per hour. Noting that the quarry is equipped with rail loadout capabilities, Larry Silvi says, ”with the active rail line, we will open up a wider marketing area for the stone that can be serviced economically while reducing truck traffic”.

The Silvi Group was founded in 1946 and has its headquarters in Fairless Hills, Pa.