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<\/p>\nIf you\u2019ve ever been to an event at Rogers Place in Edmonton, you probably noticed the massive exposed concrete walls and columns that give the arena its unmistakable sense of strength.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That strength is real \u2014 because like many buildings, bridges, roads, industrial projects and even sidewalks in Western Canada, Rogers Place is built from limestone quarried in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.<\/p>\n
Located about 350 kilometers west of Edmonton, the hamlet of Cadomin, Alta. has just 54 permanent residents, many of whom have mining in their blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the community\u2019s edge is Heidelberg Materials Canada\u2019s Cadomin Limestone Quarry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Connected by rail to the company\u2019s Edmonton cement plant, each year the quarry delivers enough limestone to build 100 25-storey buildings or pave a 1,600-kilometre highway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEdmonton\u2019s Rogers Place arena, completed in 2016, was built using limestone from the Cadomin quarry. Photo courtesy Rogers Place<\/p>\n
\u201cOur daily life in the western provinces \u2013 Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and northeast British Columbia \u2013 is built by concrete that is made from limestone supplied by the quarry,\u201d said Joerg Nixdorf, Heidelberg Materials\u2019 vice-president of cement operations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Heidelberg Materials is changing the way it mines limestone at the quarry, resulting in a reduced environmental footprint and continued safe access to decades of limestone reserves.<\/p>\n
From the quarry to your door<\/p>\n
Second only to water, concrete is the most widely used building material on Earth. Versions of it have shaped construction for thousands of years.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Cadomin Limestone Quarry started operating in 1954. Photo courtesy Heidelberg Materials Canada<\/p>\n
A familiar material all around us, concrete is made by mixing water with materials like sand and gravel and adding cement.<\/p>\n
Cement, the \u201cglue\u201d that holds the concrete together, is a fine powder made from limestone \u2013 like that from the Heidelberg Materials Cadomin Quarry \u2013 along with other materials that contain silica, alumina and iron.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Worldwide cement demand continues to rise. The International Energy Agency projects global cement demand will rise to 4.36 billion tonnes by 2050<\/a>, about 10 per cent above 2024 levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to be a part of an industry that provides a material that literally builds everything,\u201d said David Perkins, Heidelberg Materials\u2019 senior vice-president of sustainability and public affairs.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou can create almost any kind of shape that you want, and then once you place that shape, it\u2019s extremely resilient. It\u2019s 100 per cent recyclable, it\u2019s fire resistant and it\u2019s extremely long-lasting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Decades of operations<\/p>\n Originally known for coal mining, limestone mining is now Cadomin\u2019s main industry.<\/p>\n Inland Cement Company (a predecessor to Heidelberg Materials) began quarrying limestone at this site in 1954.<\/p>\n For decades, this has been done by blasting, slowly moving equipment down the surface of the quarry.<\/p>\n The quarried limestone is conveyed through an inclined chute underground, where it is crushed and stored before being transferred to rail cars to be shipped to the Edmonton cement plant.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tUnderground crusher at the Cadomin Limestone Quarry. Photo courtesy Heidelberg Materials Canada<\/p>\n The quarry reached a point where operators faced a choice: relocate all the equipment and continue working on the surface \u2014 an expensive and highly impactful undertaking \u2014 or move the entire operation underground.<\/p>\n Moving underground<\/p>\n They chose the latter, and the limestone quarry is now in the process of being converted from a surface mine to the first fully underground limestone mine in Alberta.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe transition will help lower our environmental footprint by minimizing surface impacts, reducing the potential for dust and noise, and eliminating the need for large amounts of caprock removal, all while ensuring continued access to high-quality limestone,\u201d said Brent Korobanik, permitting and community liaison for Heidelberg Materials in Edmonton.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFrom an economic perspective, it helps us out, but the big reason is sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tWorker underground at the Cadomin Limestone Quarry. Photo courtesy Heidelberg Materials Canada<\/p>\n High-tech underground fleet<\/p>\n Moving underground allows Heidelberg Materials to retain existing infrastructure such as crushing equipment. It will also require a new mining fleet<\/a>, supplied in part by Stockholm, Sweden\u2013based Sandvik Group.<\/p>\n Sandvik says the fleet uses next-generation automation, and the project \u201ccould redefine expectations for how underground mining is executed in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n Heidelberg Materials expects the underground mine to be fully operational by spring 2027, when surface mining will be discontinued.<\/p>\n Sustainable Cement\u00a0<\/p>\n As Heidelberg Materials works to reduce its footprint at Cadomin, its Edmonton cement plant is advancing new sustainability strategies.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tHeidelberg Materials Canada cement plant, Edmonton. <\/p>\n In 2025, the plant hit a major milestone, with 50 per cent of its fuel now coming from low-carbon alternative sources including processed municipal waste, demolition wood chips and tire fibre.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/world-cement-production-iea-2025-550x0-c-default.jpg\")
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