Canada-based DPM Metals, formerly Dundee Precious Metals, is moving Čoka Rakita from feasibility work towards physical project delivery, with plans to dismantle processing equipment at its Ada Tepe mine in Bulgaria and transfer it to eastern Serbia.
The equipment relocation is one of the most visible indications that Čoka Rakita is progressing beyond exploration and technical studies. Ada Tepe is approaching the end of its operating life, allowing DPM to reuse a processing plant with a nominal capacity of 850,000 tonnes of ore annually at the new Serbian operation.
Čoka Rakita is located in the Crni Vrh area, approximately 35 kilometres northwest of Bor, within one of Serbia’s most established mining districts. The underground gold project is wholly owned by DPM through its Serbian corporate structure, including Crni Vrh Resources and Dundee Precious Metals Avala.
The processing equipment in Bulgaria will be dismantled, transported to Serbia and reconstructed as part of the Čoka Rakita processing complex. Rather than materially reducing the headline investment requirement, the strategy is intended primarily to lower execution risk, shorten procurement schedules and reduce exposure to the long delivery periods now affecting specialised mining and mineral-processing equipment.
DPM already operates Ada Tepe and the larger Chelopech gold-copper mine in Bulgaria. This regional presence gives the company access to an experienced technical workforce, maintenance specialists and processing knowledge that can be transferred to Serbia. The proximity of the Bulgarian operations also creates opportunities to train future Čoka Rakita personnel before the Serbian mine enters production.
The definitive feasibility study completed in November 2025 estimates initial development expenditure of $448 million, up from $379 million in the earlier pre-feasibility study. The increase reflects updated engineering, construction costs, infrastructure requirements and a more developed project configuration rather than a deterioration in the quality of the deposit.
Čoka Rakita is designed as an underground mine feeding a processing plant with annual throughput of 850,000 tonnes. Probable mineral reserves are estimated at 7.34 million tonnes grading 6.44 grams of gold per tonne, containing approximately 1.52 million ounces of gold.
These grades place Čoka Rakita well above those of many new gold projects under development globally. The high-grade central portion of the deposit is expected to support particularly strong output and cash generation during the first years of operation.
Average annual gold production is forecast at approximately 148,000 ounces, equivalent to about 4.6 tonnes, over the mine’s planned operating life. During the first five full production years, output could average 189,000 ounces annually, or approximately 5.9 tonnes of gold.
Total production over the current mine plan is expected to approach 1.3 million ounces, or roughly 41 tonnes of gold. The project has a planned operating life of around 10 years, although continued exploration around Čoka Rakita could support an extension or the development of additional satellite deposits.
The feasibility study assumes an average all-in sustaining cost of only $644 per ounce. That would position Čoka Rakita within the lower-cost segment of the global gold industry and give the project substantial resilience against movements in the gold price, construction inflation and operating-cost volatility.
Based on a conservative reference gold price of $1,900 per ounce, DPM calculated an after-tax net present value of $782 million, using a 5 per cent discount rate, and an after-tax internal rate of return of 36 per cent. The projected investment payback period is comparatively short for a new underground mine.
The economics become considerably stronger at gold prices above the feasibility-study assumption. With the international gold market trading materially above $1,900 per ounce, Čoka Rakita’s potential revenue, free cash flow and project value would be significantly higher, although development costs, exchange rates and the final construction schedule remain important variables.
The reuse of Ada Tepe equipment provides a practical link between DPM’s declining Bulgarian asset and its next major regional growth project. Processing facilities contain crushers, grinding circuits, flotation cells, gravity-concentration equipment, thickeners, pumps, electrical systems and process-control infrastructure. Many of these items have long procurement periods and require extensive factory testing before delivery.
Transferring operating equipment with a documented maintenance history can reduce the risk that Čoka Rakita’s commissioning schedule is disrupted by delayed machinery. It also allows DPM to apply experience gained at Ada Tepe, where the company has processed ore through a plant of the same nominal annual capacity planned for the Serbian mine.
The relocation will nevertheless be a complex engineering exercise. Each component must be inspected, catalogued and assessed before dismantling. The equipment will then require preservation, cross-border transport, customs processing, reconstruction, integration with new infrastructure and recommissioning in Serbia.
Not all facilities can be transferred. Čoka Rakita will still require an underground mine, access declines, ventilation, dewatering, power infrastructure, water-treatment systems, internal roads, workshops, laboratories and a new tailings-management arrangement. The project design envisages a fully lined dry-stack tailings facility with capacity of approximately 3.9 million tonnes.
The plant will use gravity concentration and conventional flotation, with combined gold recovery estimated at approximately 88 per cent. The operation is expected to produce saleable gravity and flotation concentrates rather than doré bars as its sole final product.
DPM plans preparatory and early works during the second half of 2026, subject to permitting progress. Full construction is expected to begin in early 2027, with first underground ore reaching the surface during the second half of 2028.
The company intends to build an initial stockpile of approximately 80,000 tonnes of run-of-mine ore before starting the processing plant. This inventory is designed to support a more stable commissioning period by ensuring that the plant has sufficient feed while underground mining gradually increases towards its planned rate.
First concentrate production is currently targeted for the first half of 2029. The revised schedule is more conservative than earlier projections that envisaged production during 2028, reflecting the time required for spatial planning, environmental assessment, detailed engineering, construction permitting and equipment relocation.
A key permitting milestone was reached when Serbian authorities initiated preparation of the Special Purpose Spatial Plan for the Čoka Rakita mining area. The process includes a strategic environmental assessment and will establish the planning framework for the mine, processing plant, roads, power supply, water systems and associated infrastructure.
Most environmental and social baseline studies have already been completed, but the project must still pass through several regulatory stages before construction can begin in full. These include environmental-impact assessment, approval of the main mining design, land-access arrangements and construction permits for individual facilities.
For DPM, maintaining alignment between permitting and engineering is essential. Delays in spatial planning or environmental approvals could leave transferred equipment stored for longer than expected, increasing preservation and logistics costs. Conversely, dismantling the Ada Tepe plant too late could affect the Serbian construction and commissioning sequence.
Čoka Rakita is expected to create more than 500 direct jobs once operational, with additional employment during construction and through local suppliers. DPM plans to recruit locally where possible and train Serbian employees at its established operations in Chelopech and Ada Tepe.
The project’s regional workforce model is financially significant. Underground mining, mineral processing and maintenance require specialised personnel, while shortages of experienced workers have become a constraint across European mining markets. Training staff within existing DPM operations can reduce commissioning risk and dependence on expensive international contractors during the ramp-up period.
Serbia also stands to receive a 5 per cent mineral royalty, calculated on mining revenue under the fiscal assumptions used in the project study. At average production of 148,000 ounces and a gold price of $1,900 per ounce, annual gross gold value would approach $281 million, implying a theoretical royalty contribution of approximately $14 million annually before considering payable-metal adjustments and other contractual factors.
The feasibility model assumes that Čoka Rakita qualifies for Serbia’s large-investment corporate tax incentive, potentially providing an effective corporate income-tax rate of zero for up to 10 years, subject to continued compliance with statutory investment and employment requirements. The availability of that incentive materially supports the project’s reported after-tax returns.
Electricity will represent another important operating input. The processing plant, underground ventilation, pumping, crushing and grinding systems will require a stable high-voltage connection. Power-supply infrastructure must therefore be completed and tested before integrated commissioning can begin.
Čoka Rakita forms part of a broader DPM exploration position around the Crni Vrh and Timok area. Nearby targets including Dumitru Potok, Frasen and Rakita North, located within roughly two kilometres of the planned infrastructure, could eventually provide additional ore to the central processing plant.
That exploration potential strengthens the logic of installing an expandable processing hub. New discoveries close to the planned underground and surface infrastructure could extend plant utilisation beyond the initial reserve life and improve returns on roads, power, water management and processing facilities already funded through the first development phase.
The transfer from Ada Tepe gives Čoka Rakita an unusual development profile: the Serbian project will combine new underground infrastructure with an established processing system drawn from DPM’s existing Balkan portfolio. It also reflects a wider change in European mining investment, where equipment availability, regional operating knowledge and construction schedules have become almost as important as the quality of the mineral resource itself.
