In February 2019 Agnico Eagle’s Pinos Altos team in Mexico began implementing an innovative and environmentally friendly process to increase soil quality, promote plant growth and decrease rain erosion on slopes in one of the waste zones of the Oberon Weber Rock Storage Facility.

With a goal of providing natural environmental restoration in collaboration with the local community, and in line with established government agreements, their plan was to leverage an agricultural technique called “ultra-high-density grazing” (UHDG) – a system that combines scientific principles and local knowledge to manage herds of cattle such that their grazing habits have a positive influence on the ecosystem. 

To get underway the team acquired one hundred head of cattle and began the construction of pastures, or small enclosures on 8-hectares of land where the cattle would be allowed to graze. The team then began using a special livestock feed which increases the highly active microbial environment of the rumen, the largest chamber of the cow’s four-chamber digestive system. Inside the rumen the microbes work together to turn food (forage) into energy and protein for the cow, and at the end of the cycle generates a mix of plant residues, manure and soil which improves the nutrient cycle process. 

By using this kind of foraging and feeding method and herding the cattle at regular intervals in a specific grazing pattern, the team was able to achieve improved soil health and eliminate the need for using topsoil in their environmental reclamation activities and the heavy machinery usually used to do the work. Further, this method increased the density and quality of the plants that grew in the project area.

After a successful 6-month pilot project the team has now decided to expand on their success and work with the same UHDG herd for their revegetation project. Soon the cows will graze on the very grass their previous feeding helped to produce, thereby creating a 100% sustainable project and ecosystem!