Drilling at the Aru-Lõuna quarry, near Kunda, Lääne-Viru County began at noon on Thursday, under the watchful eye of workers from the Estonian Geological Survey, which is carrying out phosphorite research on behalf of the state. Journalists and a few dozen peaceful protesters were also among those observing the scene.

In recent years, the Estonian Geological Survey has taken samples for research from small boreholes approximately ten centimeters in diameter. Now, for the first time, they are bringing large quantities of phosphorite to the surface for testing. To do this, they drill seven holes, each with a diameter of more than a meter.

"More than a thousand holes like this are drilled in Estonia every year. What makes these special is that they used in the course of the study. Our company has done this before, for example, during oil shale exploration in Jordan a decade ago," said Erki Niitlaan, who is a member of Steiger Engineering's management board.

Shortly before the main drilling, samples were taken from a series of test boreholes. These showed that the area under examination contains a fifth less phosphorite than previously thought.

"Historical boreholes nearby indicated that there should be a slightly thicker layer of phosphorite. What we concluded from the first drilling is that the phosphorite layer is two meters thick at this precise location, which is about half a meter less than expected," said Johannes Vind, senior geologist at the Estonian Geological Survey.

Hydrogeologists confirmed that the water levels are safe for this research as the holes will be sealed after the samples have been extracted.

"Once we have got the sample, the hole will be sealed up and the two aquifers that we open up during the investigation will also be isolated using clay and concrete," said Maile Polikarpus, senior hydrogeologist at the Estonian Geological Survey.

The Estonian Geological Survey's phosphorite exploration has taken longer than they had hoped. This has cast doubt on whether the surveys will be completed by the deadline, which is at the end of next year. Up to now, no company has been found to carry out industrial tests on the minerals extracted.

"We had hoped that one laboratory would be able to do all the work, but unfortunately this is not the case. We are now in a situation where we are looking for different service providers to do all the work we need," said Tiit Kaasik, head of the mineral resources department of the Estonian Geological Survey.

Drilling conditions in the area are difficult. It therefore remains unknown when the first tonnes of phosphorite, from a depth of about 21 meters, will be brought to the surface for sampling.

By the evening on the first day of drilling, a depth of 4.5 meters had been reached.

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