The Melancthon Quarry

Design Principles

As we embarked on our site selection and quarry design, we engaged a variety of technical experts to help us locate and design a quarry with the following principles in mind:

  • Protect significant environmental features and functions;
  • Protect the ground and surface water;
  • Make transportation safe and efficient;
  • Protect agricultural activity;
  • Protect significant archaeological and cultural heritage resources; and
  • Where possible, enhance the natural environment.

Over the course of several years we conducted extensive studies of the ground and surface water, the geology, the features and functions of the natural environment, the agricultural resources, the transportation infrastructure, and the archaeological and cultural heritage resources. With these principles in mind together with the results of extensive technical studies, we designed the Melancthon Quarry to operate with the following features:

  • The quarry is designed with proven dewatering, recharge and recycling systems which keep the quarry dry while maintaining the quantity and quality of the surrounding ground and surface water resources.

  • Several features of the quarry are designed to mitigate any potential adverse impacts to neighbours and the environment including:

    • Increased setbacks;
    • Landscaped berms which provide visually pleasing views and serve as buffers from noise and dust;
    • Enclosed processing plants, conveyors and dust suppression sprays for reduced noise and improved air quality; and
    • A visually screened truck marshaling area with controlled access from the highway.

  • The quarry will be progressively rehabilitated to agriculture with naturalized berms and side slopes to complement and enhance the surrounding rural landscape. As the excavation face advances, the agricultural soil is moved from the surface to the quarry floor so that soil profiles can be rebuilt and farming can continue concurrently with excavation. In addition, the berms and quarry side slopes will be vegetated to blend into the natural landscape.

  • The five part quarry design includes a central operating area and four excavation areas. The central operating area serves to consolidate administration, truck marshaling, and maintenance. It also may be used for secondary processing and contains facilities for rail loading and marshaling, concrete recycling and concrete batching. The four excavation areas are designed to be operated independently and can be scaled up to operate in sequence or simultaneously to meet market demand. This design allows for the distribution of extraction operations across the four excavation areas while also allowing for the centralization of processing and shipping activities.
  • The haul route for the quarry is Dufferin County Road 124, a former Provincial highway designed and designated for truck traffic. When quarry traffic reaches certain levels, specific improvements to Dufferin County Road124 are planned to ensure that projected levels of service on the roadway are maintained. In addition, a controlled signalized access at the main quarry entrance has been designed to ensure a safe environment for vehicular traffic.
  • The quarry has comprehensive design, engineering and operating controls to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements with respect to noise, air quality, water, shipping, blasting and rehabilitation. These control measures include standards for measuring compliance together with processes for monitoring, reporting, continuous improvement and complaint resolution.

In addition, we are committed to entering into agreements with appropriate local authorities to provide for off-site infrastructure improvements and the establishment of appropriate financial assurances to secure performance of the quarry’s mitigation and compliance measures. This will ensure that public authorities are not responsible for the cost of quarry mitigation measures and rehabilitation