Up to $80,000 of copper wire stolen from Marmor Quarry

A small quarry in regional Queensland has been hit by thieves who stole up to $80,000 of copper wire from the site.

The Marmor Quarry has been dealt a blow after having up to $80,000 in copper wire stolen.

Staff at a small regional quarry have been left “frustrated” after thieves broke into their facility, stealing tens of thousands worth of copper wire.

The Marmor Quarry, south of Rockhampton, was targeted by thieves who broke into the site and stole up to $80,000 worth of copper wire and diesel.

Quarry manager Peter Shearman said staff had noticed marks on the ground and missing diesel from one of their mobile crushers, but at first couldn’t work out what the thieves were actually doing.

“We knew where they were coming in and tried a bit of surveillance,” he said.

“We’ve got a modular fixed plant getting pulled apart to be re-installed and we found out they had gone into that area and cut out all the copper cables that ran power to the crushes.

Damage caused to the Marmor Quarry after thieves stole copper wire from the site.

“It’s worth anywhere between $60,000 and $80,000, they must have had a fair few people to cut it out of its position and drag it through the boundary fence.”

Mr Shearman said the thieves had gained entry to the site by cutting a barbed wire fence and driving a vehicle onto the site.

He said they were now in the middle of updating their security systems.

“At a quarry you only really have a certain amount of defence, it’s fairly hard to defend... we’re in the process of updating our security systems, so we will see what happens after that,” he said.

“The local police have been very good, we’ve got a new policeman who is very active in the community.”

Mr Shearman said the cost of the new security upgrades could be up to $15,000 and thefts, such as the the one they were victim to, could have big impacts on small country communities such as Marmor.

“We’re only a small quarry and this is just an added expense we don’t really need,” he said.

Damage caused to the Marmor Quarry after thieves stole copper wire from the site.

“We offer a uniqueness here here, we only have about seven staff, so we’re closer and more direct than most places.

“It’s one of those things where it could impact everyone working here, if things get tight we will have to look at how we maintain ourselves.”

Mr Shearman said being the target of theft was “frustrating”.

“Besides sleeping on site how am I going to deter it?” he said.

“It’s very frustrating, to keep a small business going and any hit of this size is a major problem.

“We shouldn’t have to put up with this crap... it’s just people profiteering out of people who do the work and pay the money.”

A Queensland Police Service spokeswoman said police were investigating the incident which happened between April 7 and June 7.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact police.