Raleigh-based Martin Marietta Materials Inc. said Monday that it is paying $65 million to buy three rock quarries, along with a remaining 49 percent interest in an existing joint venture, from Cemex Inc.



The economic downturn has been tough for Martin Marietta (NYSE:MLM), which posted a $5.8 million loss in the first quarter of 2009. But that could pick up with federal stimulus dollars starting to flow to highway projects around the country in the second half of the year.



The quarry operations are at Fort Calhoun, Neb., Guernsey, Wyo., and Milford, Utah.



The joint venture purchase relates to a Granite Canyon, Wyo., quarry, where Martin Marietta is the operating manager. The company says Granite Canyon is a major supplier of railroad ballast serving both the Union Pacific Railroad and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.



Martin Marietta said that based on 2008 results without synergies, the purchase price equates to a multiple of 6.8 times EBITDA. The estimated mineral reserves are 255 million tons.



"We are pleased to be able to add this set of quarries to our western operations as well as being able to purchase the minority interest at Granite Canyon," Stephen P. Zelnak Jr., chairman and CEO of Martin Marietta, said in a written statement. "These operations are a very good fit with our Western business and will enable us to pursue growth via additional rail and water transport possibilities."



He added that the company projects the acquired operations to be modestly accretive to earnings in 2009 with increased contributions as the economy improves.



The move could be a sign that federal stimulus spending, and the Obama administration's emphasis on rail projects, is starting to have an effect on the transportation sector of the economy.



"Ballast and rip-rap are notable in stimulus and other construction projects critical to the rebuilding of U.S. infrastructure," Ward Nye, Martin Marietta's president and COO, said in a statement. "The sites also strengthen our position as a premier stone supplier to the railroad industry."



Cemex Inc. (NYSE: CX) is a building materials company based in Garza Garcia, Mexico. The firm restructured several of its executive positions in May in an effort to improve its efficiency.



Cemex also said Monday that it's selling its Australian operations to Holcim Group for about $1.6 billion. Those operations include 249 ready-mix concrete plants, 83 aggregates quarries and 16 concrete pipe and products plants.