Mountsorrel is home to one of the largest granite quarries in Europe, with an area of 785,400 m2. The granite, technically hornblende granite, is primarily used in construction and road-repair. The quarry produces approximately 3 million tonnes per annum with reserves of 160 million tonnes of granite, making it one of the top ten largest producing quarries in Europe in 1997. The quarry is blasted at 12.30 pm most weekdays, with a force that is felt throughout most of the village, as well as in some parts of Loughborough, Quorn, Swithland, and Rothley.