AIDICO promotes the creation of the Marble Technology Centre as a continuation and consolidation of activities carried out by the Marble Technical Unit (UMT) in Novelda. The marked growth of the centre since 2003 till now means it is necessary to create a new centre with more room for facilities.

At present, the Technology Centre for Marble and Mining Activities is in the process of being set up. It is located in the “El Fondanet” industrial estate, in the area designated for municipal installations, in Novelda, which has around 2,000 m2 for office and laboratory use, and about 200 m2 for holding events and training sessions. An industrial warehouse will be built next to the main building and will take up 1,000 m2

The experience of the UTM as a research centre in the Marble and Mining sector has been acknowledged at an international level. The centre boasts a high scientific and technology potential, which makes an important effort to cover different lines of research in order to achieve modernisation in different areas throughout the sector.

UTM’s main activity involves generating research projects based on sectorial needs. In this case, success is achieved thanks to the fact that, on the one hand the research centre is located in the industrial epicentre of marble, in Alicante, which is made up of a large number of companies that work in the extraction and elaboration of marble. And, on the other hand, thanks to the institute’s capacity for involving companies and initiating lines of research and development that are attractive for the business world and are based on a dynamic evaluation of the needs of the sector.

In order to address the different fields of research, the new centre will have cutting edge scientific and technical equipment, which will be distributed between the following laboratories.

• Sample Preparation Laboratory
• Petrographic Microscopy Laboratory
• Laboratory for petrophysical and durability testing
• Laboratory for Exploitation and Exploration of Quarries
• Mineralogy and Geochemical Laboratory
• Electromechanical processes Laboratory
• Polymers and Adhesives Laboratory

Setting up the Technology Centre in the Borough of Novelda fits in perfectly with logistics conditions to enable the infrastructure to link up with the industrial network it is going to provide services to, thereby making the most efficient use of the investment carried out.