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A Mining Site in Salacgrīva Municipality has been Recultivated

The mineral extraction site “Ēkaji” is located in Salacgrīva Municipality, Ainaži Rural Territory “Dižozola masīvs” (Dižozols Massif). It is a place where sand and sand-gravel production was carried out during the period from 2001 to 2017, totalling in 67 882 m3 of sand and 83 276 m3 of sand-gravel. A significant part of the mineral materials have been used for the renovation and construction of the surrounding forest roads.

The mining site is special with the high quality of the obtained material - 20% of the extracted mineral resources are with a gravel fraction above 70mm, and the crushed materials are of high hardness. Thus, it is expected that the pavement in which the material is embedded will not lose its quality even at high loads and in different weather conditions.

The mineral extraction site is located on the shore of the ancient Baltic Ice Lake (the earliest stage of the Baltic Sea) and thanks to the natural processes of sorting the material with water and wave power in the coastal strip, the quality of the material is so good.

At the beginning of 2019, during the recultivation works, thanks to the cooperation between LVM Zemes dzīles (LVM Subsoils) team and LVM Mežsaimniecība (LVM Forestry) (West Vidzeme Region) employees a reservoir of more than 8.5 hectares with a depth of up to 2 metres was arranged in the developed mineral extraction area.

The establishment of water reservoirs in the developed mineral extraction areas is one of the ways to return the area to natural circulation through recultivation, while opening up new opportunities for future use of the area for forest management, fire protection, recreation and relaxation.

Just like forests, mineral extraction sites also have their own management cycle. It starts with mineral search and geological exploration works, the establishment of a mining site, and then the extraction and use of mineral resources for the economy. The management cycle ends with recultivation of the deposit; the type of recultivation is chosen according to the type of extraction, which is affected by whether the extraction is above or below the groundwater level.

In the immediate vicinity of the recultivated mining site, there is a facility that is attractive to visitors - Ēkaji Secular Oak, the circumference of which reaches 4.90 metres. It will be possible to get acquainted with the area of the recultivated mining site, Ēkaji Secular Oak and various matters related to forest management during the Open Forest Days, which are to take place in LVM West Vidzeme Region on 16 May. Every year, LVM offers those interested an opportunity to participate in the Open Forest Days events in LVM regions, where forest clean-up, recreation area improvement or planting works are planned on certain dates and in certain places.