Both forest roads and highways are completed with crushed stone from Eesti Energia’s mines

Mine waste rubble consisting of limestone can be used successfully as aggregate in construction works; furthermore, it is used to produce crushed stone of various grades. To reduce sulphur dioxide emissions, crushed stone is used in pulverised oil shale firing boilers at Narva Power Plants.

“Our objective is to mine in a manner as green and sustainable as possible, and for that reason we are also utilising any material left over from the mining of oil shale,” said Veljo Aleksandrov, Chairman of the Management Board of Eesti Energia Mines. “Any crushed stone or mine waste rubble produced by our mines can be used anywhere roads or grounds need to be constructed or where the profile of terrain needs to be modified. The recovery of these materials reduces the need for constructing new limestone quarries,” he added.

Most of the crushed stone output of 2012 – 373,000 tonnes – came from the Estonia mine. Amongst other things, a contribution to the production of crushed stone was made in the first half of last year by the quarry at Aidu, where oil shale mining was ended last summer.

Eesti Energia’s objective is to transform former mining areas in a manner that is friendly to the environment and the community. For that reason, the company is constructing an unconventional water landscape in the former mining area at Aidu, in collaboration with the Rural Municipality of Maidla. Previously, the former mining area at Kohtla has taken on a new look, and the industrial grounds and underground complex there are now popular tourist destinations. The Sirgala quarry that is situated in an area away from human population houses a polygon for military shooting practices.