沙石场（包括“采石场”、“采沙场”），指建筑用沙、建筑用石的采掘、精选加工生产单位，沙石场多为成片连接的开放性区域，属于生产性企业单位。采石场多位于岩石富集区，多位于陆地的丘陵、山区；采沙场（沙场）多位于水道、富沙陆地，大多数临水道而建，内陆地区多临河道、湖泊而建，大型海洋沙石采掘则依海而建。沙、石的生产过程主要分为二道工序，即采掘和精选分级。其固定场所多用于储存和精选分级。一个中等规模的生产企业可以年生产沙石数十万吨，大型的企业生产年生产能力达百万吨。

很多采石场在被废弃后都会成为池塘或湖泊，又或者垃圾堆填区。

A quarry is a place from which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate has been excavated from the ground. A quarry is the same thing as an open-pit mine from which minerals are extracted. The only trivial difference between the two is that open-pit mines that produce building materials and dimension stone are commonly referred to as quarries.