Reclamation

reclamation peaceland – springbuck

Peaceland-Springbuck takes pride in the reclamation of its depleted pits.

As soon as the aggregates have been extracted, we like to reclaim as we go. Currently Peaceland-Springbuck uses a seed mix that establishes the first year, there for giving cover to seedlings that will take off the second year. There is great satisfaction in seeing beautiful meadows and ponds where rock quarries were the year prior. Local wildlife returns to enjoy those reclaimed areas. Canada geese and ducks find our ponds, elk en deer discover the meadows. Clover is particularly attractive to spring bear cubs.

 

HRFN Lands Manager Roslyn Notseta offers suggestions.

This summer Roslyn Notseta, Lands Manager of Halfway River First Nation, and two members of her team joined Viktor Wiens and Adrian Erickson from Peaceland – Springbuck, at one of the recently reclaimed pits. We spend a few hours walking the area and comparing conventional reclamation methods to newer ways, which emphasize local species taking root instead of seed crops.

As we walked the perimeter, an area not seeded, displayed an amazing array of natural occurring flora, as pointed out by Roslyn. Tiny seedlings started growing among the trees stumps and original topsoil that had been pulled back onto depleted areas.Roslyn and her team are suggesting an experimental grid of a variety of reclamation methods for next year. We are curious to find out what results this will render.

 

SPRINGS and tall groves

Currently some of our aggregate pits feature areas of untouched patches that have springs and groves of beautiful tall trees.  It makes sense to us to leave those and work around these areas as we develop the pits for mining.