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The CEO of the company Vitolis Urmonas welcomes us immediately at the gateway to the company’s territory. Getting in the car says we’ll be heading to the very epicenter of dolomite mining.
“Now all the production is getting closer to the raw material,” says the director while driving, pointing to an old production line that is only visible when entering the area, which, in fact, is still used today because it is close to the company railway.
“We have our own 10 km railway to Pakruojis railway station, and from there the tracks of the Lithuanian Railways depart,” he explains.
The director informs that we are now descending to the bottom of an already exploited quarry and showing the slopes on the side of the quarry.
“Look where all the trees and shrubs are, there is a layer of black earth, then under it, the exposure layer where the soil is, it is up to 10 meters, and then we go to a useful layer where there are already rocks, dolomite “, indicates the slope. guide.
Once the dolomite has been crushed, he explains, the drilling and blasting work continues, then the rocks are ground, crushed, until finally they become rubble for the construction of roads.
Vitolis Urmonas
V. Urmonas points out the huge embankments poured into the quarry and says that the excavated layer of the outcrop is poured here.
“The mountains are artificially flooded and puddles form between them, which one day will have a quarry with water,” he says.
The total area of the company here is about 400 hectares, the remaining excavated area is about 200 hectares.
“We excavate and sell around 2 million tons of dolomite. There are no quotas, we excavate as necessary,” says the manager.
Dolomite leaves these quarries directly to the customer, because, as it explains, the dolomite shavings produced here are already a finished product.
“We produce rubble of various fractions, from the smallest to the largest.
The size of the pebbles is marked in millimeters, and our main customers are road builders, as most of the dolomite chips are used for road construction and asphalt preparation. Another part of the chips is used in the reinforced concrete industry, etc. “, He says.
However, most of the debris falls on Lithuanian roads. It is true that part of the production is exported to Latvia, as well as for road construction.
“About 10 percent,” explains the manager.
It openly states that the company relies heavily on financing from the road sector.
“If the roads are well financed, it can already be said that we will be fine too, but we must not forget that our dolomite chips will not necessarily be used. The competition in our sector is really high.
Or maybe they build bridges, build stops for electric cars, etc. So we don’t need our rubble at all, “explains V. Urmonas.
It is true that dolomite production should have stopped, which has not been the case in the history of the company. One of the most difficult periods is the first one in 2008-2009. crisis.
“Then we laid off two-thirds of the workers, I was calm,” he says, but assures that the pandemic that has now hit the world had absolutely no meaning for his company.
Today, the company works three shifts, that is, twenty-four hours a day.
“But at least we don’t work on weekends. The need is to increase capacity, a lot is invested in production. Every year we invest around 2 million. Eur ”, says V. Urmonas.
Coming to the mining currently in progress, the guide points to the latest technology line purchased.
“We want to increase production capacity. Small fractions will be produced here,” he shows.
According to V. Urmonas, for the moment, the assigned mining area will last for about 30 years.
“But there are career opportunities to expand,” he says.
It is true that as we speak, workers buzz around us, all kinds of trucks and other machinery circulate. The manager says that people work here outdoors year-round in all weather conditions, but everyone who works here can boast pretty solid wages.
“Salaries are higher than the national average, higher than the district average,” says the manager.
According to Sodra data for August, the average salary for this company is 2,714.03 euros before taxes.
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