FIRST VERMICULITE PLANT IN EUROPE
WOLFF & MÜLLER Minerals Bulgaria is a German-Bulgarian joint venture that opened Europe's first vermiculite plant in Bulgaria in 2010.
WOLFF & MÜLLER Minerals Bulgaria holds a concession for the mining and processing of the Belitza vermiculite deposit located near the Bulgarian capital Sofia. This deposit is one of the very few vermiculite deposits of industrial scale and volume in Europe. At a time when global supply chains are proving vulnerable, this represents an important advantage in supplying European companies.
WOLFF & MÜLLER Minerals Bulgaria mines vermiculite in opencast mines. The layered silicate is the result of weathering and has been dormant in the earth for millions of years. Gentle extraction takes place in opencast mines, followed by industrial processing.
HOW IS VERMICULITE MINED?
The mining plan is based on the geological investigations. Before extraction, the top layer of soil is removed. The topsoil is deposited for later use. The vermiculite-containing raw material is dissolved in the open pit, picked up and transported by truck to the processing plant. There, the raw material is then dried and separated from gravel and rock.
A degree of purity of 90 % is achieved through cascading treatment processes. If materials are extracted from different places in the extraction area, homogenisation takes place by mixing. Depending on the size of the flakes, they are classified into our two products Micron and Superfine. The process ends with filling into big bags and delivery. It is accompanied by continuous monitoring of the individual steps and the final product by laboratory analyses.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
WOLFF & MÜLLER Minerals Bulgaria works with the environment in mind and takes subsequent recultivation tasks into account already during planning and extraction. The humus excavated as a cover layer is used to backfill the site after the deposit has been exhausted. Landslides are prevented by means of appropriately specified slope angles. The humus layer is available for rapid revegetation. Recultivation includes natural succession as well as afforestation, whereby residual amounts of vermiculite mixed into the topsoil have a positive effect on growth.