This open pit mine projects northeast of Segovia to extract quartz. It is expected to be significantly larger than earlier plans and could cover up to 4,000 hectares, according to neighborhood groups opposing the project. The company contends that the undertaking will not cause irreversible environmental damage.
In opposition to the open pit northeast of Segovia, the Citizen Platform plans to present its concerns about the new Erimsa/Elkem mining venture in the area. The operation, once a Galician company now owned by Norwegian interests and the National Bluestar fund from China, seeks 45 new mining grids covering 1,287 hectares to extract 80,000 tons of metallurgical quartz annually in Sepúlveda (Duratón), Barbolla, and Sotillo.
After the project appeared in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León and with a window for public comments, the platform summarized its position. ERIMSA/Elkem initially proposed mining across 2,785 hectares northeast of Segovia and has since requested about 1,300 more hectares. The platform argues that environmental, health, and heritage impacts would rise, affecting residents and farmers involved in the initiative.
The project would surround multiple major archaeological sites, including Confloenta, and sit beside the Duratón and Serrano rivers. The Platform Against Mines states that the selected area holds undeniable cultural and archaeological value, with protected natural zones, and both protected and unprotected flora and fauna in the region.
Residents rely on agriculture, animal husbandry, and sustainable tourism, and fear permanent disruption to their way of life. A platform spokesperson, Marisa Moro, remarked that such mining threatens natural, ethnographic, and cultural heritage and the community’s livelihoods.
“The project owner’s own reports on environmental impacts are alarming,” Moro stated. “Even for a hypothetical indirect use, landscape alteration, vegetation loss, disturbance to fauna, increased noise, and disruption are noted—while only a small number of direct jobs would be created and mining activity would occur with limited processing onsite.”
company version
The company is headquartered in La Coruña and operates as a subsidiary of the Norwegian Elkem, with Chinese-backed National Bluestar as a key investor. A representative from the company sought to reassure the public and address concerns raised by residents and associations in the municipality.
In a statement, the firm claimed that the soil dredging method would allow full recovery of the land to its pre-intervention state, explaining that the fertile soil layer would be removed to a depth of about one and a half meters before processing.
Through screening, material larger than four centimeters would be removed and the remainder would be redistributed on site to maintain soil fertility, prevent erosion, and keep farms productive, according to the company. The final step would involve returning the separated fertile layer to its original position, followed by leveling and sub-soiling.
“Only two hectares at a time would be treated, with expansion to other areas only once restoration is complete,” the company asserted, stressing favorable weather and rental-based operations.
Affected Duratón River
Ecologists in Action cautions that the Duratón River would suffer serious damage. The concern centers on the Riberas del Río Duratón Special Protection Area, part of the Natura 2000 network, stretching roughly 40 kilometers along the river in two segments.
The first 25 kilometers lie entirely within Segovia province, at the foot of Somosierra, reaching the Ayuso and de la Hoz rivers near Sepúlveda.
This river stretch would be significantly affected by the ERIMSA project, which has chosen a sizable portion of the valley for mining, leaving only a narrow 25-meter corridor along the riverbanks. The platform notes this choice as insufficient to protect ecological integrity.
This activity would degrade vegetation, reduce soil porosity from extracting materials larger than 40 mm, and cause soil compaction from machinery. Ecologists in Segovia warn of increased water erosion and sediment loads that could impair the Duratón watershed and harm aquatic life.
They argue that the mining plan threatens the ecological values that underpinned the ZEC designation and stress that surface trenches, even if narrow, could lead to sediment runoff during rains and degrade water quality in the Duratón basin.
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Contact address for the environment department: [email protected]