The beautiful mountains of Morocco. A recent quarry and factory visit

Extending some 2,500km across Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, the Atlas Mountains are an impressive sight.

We were fortunate enough to visit one area of the mountains during a recent trip to Morocco to view the quarries and factories where some of our limestone tiles and paving are produced.

Following a long drive (about three hours) through the mountain range, we reached the quarry where large blocks of limestone are cut from the earth using some impressive hydraulic machinery. Once these large pieces are cut away, they are then cut down into smaller blocks which can be transported the three hours back out of the mountains to the factory.

Once at the factory, the blocks are sliced into uniform slabs before being produced into individual tiles. 

Some tiles, such as those in our flagstone flooring collection, are finished by machines and others, such as those in our antiqued limestone range, are finished by hand using traditional techniques to create aged and worn surfaces and edges. During our visit we had the chance to select some tiles featuring some new finishes. These will be added to our range in the near future. 

As well as processing and creating beautiful tiles from natural stone, the Moroccan factories also produce a range of beautiful glazed, colourful mosaics and tiles known as Zellige. These are created in a wide range of different colours and patterns.

Natural Stone Consulting

Natural Stone Consulting are specialist suppliers of natural stone floors, wall tiles and paving. Working with factory partners in countries around the world, we have created one of the largest selections of modern, aged and antiqued flagstone floors at our showroom in Newbury, Berkshire.