Bernburg is a mining town. Salt has been mined in this town on the river Saale for more than 100 years. Underground, K+S extracts high-quality rock salt and evaporated salt, which is processed into a wide variety of products. These range from table salt and cooking salt to salt for winter road maintenance and products for water softening.
The salt deposits in Bernburg still offer potential for decades to come. The particularly pure layers, which are up to 50 metres thick, are among the best deposits in Europe.
Partner in underground stowage
Bernburg is also the headquarters of AUREC, a subsidiary of REKS GmbH & Co. KG, a joint venture between REMEX and K+S. As a specialist for stowage materials, AUREC works closely with the salt mine. The materials produced by AUREC are transported via a conveyor belt to the mine shaft and transferred to the K+S underground operation via a shaft drop line. Installed at depths of up to 700 metres, they fill disused sections of the mine, ensuring permanent stabilisation of the rock.
„Within the K+S Group, the Bernburg salt works is an important pillar of salt production.“
Dorothee Telaar, Head of Salzwerk Bernburg of K+S
Resource-efficient recovery of mineral waste
AUREC uses industrial mineral waste stemming from Germany and abroad to produce stowage materials. Examples include soil from site remediation projects, filter dust from thermal waste treatment and flue gas cleaning plants, fly ash from coal-fired power plants, slag and ash, sludge, moulding and core sand from foundries. Thanks to the complex processing, these materials can still be put to good use. They do not have to be sent to landfill, which conserves valuable landfill space which –beyond providing mining safety – makes an important contribution to maintaining sufficient disposal capacities.
The underground utilisation of mineral waste serves to improve mine safety while saving valuable raw materials
Capacity expansion to 350,000 tonnes per annum
Previously, AUREC in Bernburg was able to accept around 210,000 tonnes of material per year. With the future-oriented plant expansion, the annual capacity has now increased to around 350,000 tonnes. This corresponds to an increase of almost 70%. To make this possible, AUREC invested a total of €16 million in the site – the largest investment in AUREC’s history to date.
Technical changes at the site
The focus of the plant expansion was on increasing reception and storage capacities. Additional warehouse space was created for bulk goods and three additional silos were erected for materials that can be transported pneumatically. This was complemented by optimisations to the plant and conveyor technology, as well as innovations to the infrastructure of the factory premises. Processing and conveyor routes were created that are tailored to the specific conditions on site and the properties of the input material.
Experience meets the needs of the future
When planning the plant upgrade, the AUREC team drew on more than 30 years of experience in processing mineral waste for underground recovery. The expansion of capacity comes at just the right time, as the volume of mineral waste in Germany remains high and available landfill space is scarce.p.
“Since 1992, we have been processing mineral waste into stowage materials for underground use in Bernburg. The plant expansion reinforces our high production standards and combines mining and waste disposal safety in a sustainable manner.”
Dr. Robert Wermuth, Managing Director of AUREC
Focus on safety
The process of transforming mineral waste into stowage material is complex. The individual source materials are first comprehensively analysed in a suitability test and evaluated on the basis of their structural, chemical and physical properties. This is a prerequisite for approval as recognised recovery measure in accordance with European regulation. The material is then processed according to a tested and approved formula. The production process is subject to the highest safety standards. Internal controls and external monitoring ensure that legal requirements are reliably met.
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