QUARRY WINTERSWIJK

In Winterswijk, limestone that is millions of years old lies relatively shallow in the soil. The stone that is quarried here is muschelkalk. This limestone was formed in the geological period Triassic, about 230 million years ago. Winterswijk is the only municipality in the Netherlands where this rock comes to the surface and then only in an area of approximately 2,800 by 200 meters.
The raw materials in the quarry, the muschelkalk, are ± 35 metres thick and consist of three layers. Because of selective mining, different plateaus are created. Underneath the top layer, which consists of sandy boulder clay with many erratic stones, we find calcareous marl (fertilizer for agriculture), clayey marl (raw material for the pottery industry) and wellenkalk (filler for asphalt and concrete).
The quarry in Winterswijk has been in use since 1932. It is an open-pit mine that is now about 40 meters deep. The quarry is now operated by the Sibelco company. The quarry is a paradise for lovers of minerals and fossils. The 35-metre-thick layer of limestone contains several rare minerals. There are also fossils (fossilized remains) of animals from the Triassic.

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