In the area of about 50 hectares managed by the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in Bor, the tailings pond has been explored for a long time. It is suspected that there is a large amount of gold and other metals in mining waste.
The dump of the former mining and smelting basin, where mining waste has been deposited since the 1960s, is now deserted. Only a few wells can be seen from the exploration intensified by the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy over the last three years. Who could have guessed that there was a whole lot of wealth here?
It was reliably stated that there was somewhere around 0.33 to 0.35 percent of copper and just over 0.2 grams of gold per ton. This means that in an area of about 50 hectares there is around five tons of gold in deposit and around 95.000 tons of metal in copper. Within that, value is somewhere close to 700 million dollars in deposit”, explains Mile Bugarin, director of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
The citizens of Bor still suffer from air pollution, so it is rare for anyone to hear that there is gold and copper only fifty meters from the train station – in the tailings pond. The City Administration estimated that this research by the Institute was significant for two reasons.
“I think that these two issues that are important for the city of Bor will be solved in this way, and that’s where ecology comes first and then the economy”, said Mayor of Bor Aleksandar Milikic.
In the next two years, an investment feasibility study will be prepared. Subsequently, the Institute, together with the Government of Serbia and the line ministry, will seek a strategic partner.
