Commencement of design of study on new ore deposit in RTB "Bor"

- The design of the feasibility study on exploitation of ore deposit “Borska reka” has commenced in Mining-Smelter Basin (RTB) Bor – the Director General of that company, Blagoje Spaskovski, said today (April 29, 2009).

He said at the press conference that only the thorough analysis can lead to profitable exploitation of significant copper ore reserves, which can be reached in four or five years.

Spaskovski presented estimates that about 500m tons of copper ore can be dug out of “Borska reka” by means of so-called block-caving method, but this method can be used only at large depths, at which the percentage of copper in the ore is quite reduced.

- The estimates about the percentage of copper in that ore deposit are different and range between 0.53 and 0.76%. Some people claim that that ore deposit is profitable, while others say the opposite, and that is why we are going to take all the possibilities in consideration – said Spaskovski.

The CEO of RTB pointed out that the long-term development of mining on that territory and the flow of the funds for its realization had showed that the mining business in Bor was profitable.

In order for the feasibility study on exploitation of “Borska reka” to be as good as possible, an expert for block-caving method, Ricardo Palma Galaso from Chile, is currently staying in Bor. It is interesting to mention that 300,000 tons of ores are dug out in the mines in Chile every day.

The experts from RTB, the professors from Bor-based Technical Faculty and the associates of the Mining and Metallurgy Institute will take part in the elaboration of the project for exploitation of that ore deposit and the programme of activities that will precede the study.