gypsum quarry
A site extracting naturally occurring gypsum, calcium sulfate dihydrate, from the earth in bulk.
A gypsum quarry is a place where naturally occurring soft crystalline calcium sulfate dihydrate (CaSO₄·2H₂O) is extracted from the earth in large quantities. Gypsum is the main component of drywall (one of the most common forms of interior wall materials), and is often used as a component of plaster.
The mineral is recovered from a natural deposit in large quantities. Its use in drywall and plaster does not make a factory producing those materials a quarry unless extraction also occurs there.
Gypsum is identified by its hydrated calcium-sulfate composition. Other soft white minerals, such as the calcium carbonate of chalk, belong to different extraction categories.