Cambria, the United States manufacturer of engineered quartz surfaces, opened a new 61,000 ft² quartz processing center in Randolph, Minnesota. The site prepares raw quartz from Cambria's own Canadian mines before it reaches slab production.
The plant has operated since July 6, 2026, with a formal grand-opening celebration scheduled for Oct. 13. According to industry reporting from Stone Update on October 3, 2026, the newly completed site links Cambria's Canadian quartz mines with its Le Sueur, Minnesota, manufacturing facility.
A customized rail center at the Randolph location receives bulk shipments of natural raw quartz transported from Cambria's Canadian quartz mines, which the company has owned and operated since 2018. The Randolph plant processes the bulk mineral to Cambria's final technical specifications before transporting the refined material to Cambria's manufacturing facility in Le Sueur, Minnesota.
Facility function and rail logistics
Operating a dedicated processing center gives Cambria more control and flexibility in treating raw material from its Canadian mines.
Custom processing and material yield
The team built a quartz-specific processing system rather than adapting traditional aggregate methods commonly deployed across conventional sand, gravel and quarry operations. The stated aim is to increase material yield and maximize the value of each ton.
Marvin Bartlett, executive vice president of engineering at Cambria, emphasized the engineering focus required to establish the specialized processing setup: "Designing this facility required us to think differently about quartz and our processes."
Dave Biron, senior vice president of operations at Cambria, described the operational contribution of the new facility to the company's production network: "This new site represents an important step forward for Cambria."
Construction, employment and trade context
Up to 300 people worked on site at the height of construction. The project was designed and built in collaboration with Minnesota architects, engineers and contractors. Once fully operational, the Randolph center will support between 50 and 70 team members on site.
The facility launch comes as Cambria maintains specific commercial terms in the market, including the company's Cambria quartz price freeze pledge through 2028. It also operates within the context of federal trade policy, alongside the US engineered quartz safeguard tariff-rate quota in force since August 2026 on imported composite materials. The technical steps required to convert refined mineral quartz into finished surface slabs, including vacuum vibrocompression and resin binding, are examined in StoneTrades' review of how engineered quartz is made.
What it means for buyers
- Vertical integration connecting Canadian quartz mines directly to Minnesota processing and slab manufacturing gives Cambria a mine-to-slab supply chain inside North America.
- Expanded domestic processing capacity offers commercial contractors an alternative domestic surface source while imported engineered quartz remains subject to safeguard tariff-rate quotas.
- Closer control over raw-material treatment is one factor in batch-to-batch slab consistency, although commercial buyers should continue verifying delivered slab lots against approved project samples.
- Regardless of domestic processing or raw material extraction origins, countertop fabricators and millwork contractors handling engineered quartz must adhere to mandatory occupational standards for respirable crystalline silica dust control.
