Chinese company Zidjin, a strategic partner of RTB Bor, has begun the preparation of a major mining project for the exploitation of the Borska Reka underground reservoir. It is one of over 200 sites in Serbia where valuable mineral resources are exploited.
The site is estimated to contain reserves of nearly four million tons of copper, 130 tons of gold and more than 1,000 tons of silver, worth more than 30 billion dollars. The data indicate that geological reserves of close to 320 million tonnes of ore have been explored and identified so far. However, it is assumed that Borska Reka actually covers more than one billion tonnes of ore, with an average content of one percent of copper, which is almost three times more than the currently exploited RTB mines.
Borska Reka, which requires the activation of at least 150 million euros, has so far been explored only at a depth of 450 meters. It is assumed that this deposit, with increasing depth, widens and increases the content of copper and precious metals.
Data from 2002 testify to the attractiveness of the Bor River, which in its mineralogy resembles on underground Chukaru copper mine. Then, before launching the first tender for the sale of RTB, the World Bank published a study according to which the future of local mining should be based on exploration and exploitation of the reservoir.
This announcement again raised the question of how many mines and hidden precious metals are in our country. At the beginning of May, the Chinese signed a contract worth 33.5 million euros for the exploitation of gold and copper mines at the site of Chukaru near Bor, and it is estimated that about one million tonnes of copper is at the site. Predrag Mijatovic, deputy director of the Geological Survey of Serbia, said that most sites were found in Eastern Serbia, in the vicinity of Bor, although investigations were allegedly being carried out throughout Serbia.
– There are currently more than 200 mineral exploration sites, plus sites already in operation. We are the richest in copper, lead, zinc, as well as coal, most lignite. From non-metallic raw materials, there is clay, as well as technical and building stone for roads – says Mijatovic, adding that most of the sites were discovered by Serbian geologists (except lithium), and foreign companies now present in Serbia confirmed this data and expanded their research with additional investments.
The most prevalent are the exploitation of copper and gold, lead, zinc, iron, chromium, manganese, molybdenum, cobalt, cadmium, antimony…
The most attention is certainly given to Bor, where, according to the Canadian company Nevsun, there are about 15 million tons of copper and about 370 tons of gold, and the value of this site is estimated at about 100 billion dollars.
Three mining sites on Crni vrh, near Zagubica, contain as much as 72 tons of gold. Silver deposits in Serbia were found in the Carpathian region, in Bor, Krivelja, Majdanpek, Timok, Blagojevo Kamen and Pek, as well as in Sumadija on Rudnik. Platinum deposits in Serbia are in Pomoravlje, or near Vrnjacka Banja and Trstenik.
In addition, Loznica is home to one of the world’s largest lithium sails. The ore reserves in the Jadar basin are estimated at 136 million tons. The Jadar ore deposit is believed to be located in 20 more locations extending to Zajecar, and that the results of the initial explorations are even more impressive at these sites.
Serbia also has resources of secondary economic importance that are of lower potential and include molybdenum, antimony, nickel, tin, uranium, bauxite, iron, manganese, tungsten, and part of a rare element. Mineral resources of tertiary economic importance have not been sufficiently explored, and mercury, arsenic, platinum, asbestos, graphite, phosphates, chalk, talc, piezo-optic quartz and sepiolite clays are classified.
