Mining company Serbia Zijin Copper has submitted a request to the Ministry of Environmental Protection for the preparation of an Environmental Impact Assessment Study for the exploitation of the Cementacija 2 and Cementacija 3 ore bodies at the Kraku Bugaresku–Cerovo Cementacija deposit. The site is located about 13 kilometers from Bor and two kilometers from the village of Mali Krivelj.
The project continues decades of mining activity in the area, following operations at the Cementacija 1 open pit. The study was prepared by the Faculty of Mining and Geology at the University of Belgrade and is based on prior approvals from the Ministry of Mining and Energy granted in 1991 and 2018.
Mining is planned in five phases, starting from the northern section of Cementacija 2, then expanding southwest to open Cementacija 3, and later extending both pits southward. Additional resources from Cementacija 4 will be exploited in the southeast section. The project’s net value is estimated at USD 117 million, making it one of Serbia’s most significant recent mining investments.
Over the seven-year production period, the project aims to extract 3.5 million tons of ore and will generate 61.1 million tons of waste rock (tailings). Existing tailings dumps from Cementacija 1 will be expanded to accommodate up to 61.9 million tons. Mining operations will use discontinuous technology involving drilling, blasting, loading, hauling, and waste disposal.
The project will also affect the Cerova River, whose natural course runs between the open pit and access roads. Plans include diverting and piping parts of the river and constructing a retaining wall along the road embankment to control flow.
