Zijin Bor Copper has responded to complaints from Bor residents and city authorities about excessive pollution from the company’s facilities, saying it was due to outdated equipment.
The statement said that the former RTB had neglected the necessary measures of “exhaust gas desulfurization during the construction of the smelter”, so that sulfur dioxide could not be effectively and completely processed before discharge, and the smelter equipment is very outdated.
“The consequence of all this is the inability to sustain the production process over a long period of time, so problems are inevitable. It is an indisputable fact that environmental protection is a systematic and continuous process, and that these problems have been ignored for over a hundred years, ”the company said.
They note in Zidjin that this historical heritage cannot be settled overnight.
“We have never and will never ignore this problem. After taking over RTB, Zidjin gave great importance to environmental protection, invested a lot of money and started big business, so the overall environmental situation has already improved a lot, “said the Chinese company, the majority owner of the former Mining and Smelter Basin (RTB) Bor.
More than € 250 million has been spent on the construction of a new smelter and sulfuric acid plant in Bor, which began operations in 2015. The Chinese company paid 350 million euros after the takeover of RTB, and at the beginning of the year it paid off debts from UPPR.
They point out that the measuring stations in Krivelj and Slatina have been repaired to better monitor the air quality, but also that a sprinkler for reducing dust particles, “water cannons” and special equipment for cleaning the drive of the converter have been purchased.
The company said they were trying to overcome the “old and unstable effects of the production system.”
Zidjin also states that excessive pollution was detected from September 7 to September 9 because several times the power supply was interrupted during production.
“That is why the Company immediately contacted the Electric Power Company of Serbia, trying to find out the causes and find a solution to the problem of ‘power outages’,” the company said.
Serbia Zidjin believes that “enjoying a clean and fresh natural environment is a right that every citizen should have,” and hopes that it will achieve sustainable development in an environmentally friendly way, while creating employment opportunities for Bor residents.
