Production of more copper in Bor by means of more powerful machines - ten new "dumpers" in early 2010

The 18th of December was the deadline prior to which the Bor-based copper combine was supposed to choose, on public tender, the most favorable bidder for refurbishment of mining machines. That means that that company would get another ten large dump trucks, with the capacity of 220 tons each, already in the first months of the next year.

In addition, the mines in Bor and Majdanpek will obtain two more large hydraulic dredges and two bulldozers, as well as one grader and a drill.

Total of 25m USD will be set aside for procurement of these expensive and powerful machines, all of which will be made abroad, and the money for this purpose will be provided from the loan, the guarantee for which will be issued by the Government of Serbia.

The tender was announced by the Board of Mining-Smelter Basin "Bor", with the headquarters in Belgrade, which was formed by the Government of Serbia in 2001 to run the Bor-based company in restructuring.

The Director General of the company in Bor, Blagoje Spaskovski, says that the state's aid is precious and that copper production in Bor and Majdanpek, according to the plan, will be three times larger in 2014 than this year, and this year's production is twice as big as the one in 2008. Construction of brand new copper smelter within the next three years, for which the Government of Serbia has provided the credit guarantee worth 135m USD, will also contribute to growth of production.

– New machines will be used on existing ore deposits, and it is expected that much richer ore will be reached within next two years and that copper production will be increased, as well as that the new mines will be opened in the vicinity of Bor and Majdanpek – says CEO Spaskovski. – Thanks to that and construction of new smelter, we will be producing 50,000 tons of copper per year already in 2012, that is, 75,000 tons of copper per year from our own raw materials in 2014. In that way, we will reach permanent stabilization and create conditions for new and larger investments by the end of this century.

With the help of the state and with its own money, the Bor-based combine started refurbishment of old and ruined mining machines two years ago. Before that, no investment had been made in that equipment for almost two decades. On that occasion, six dumpers with the capacity of 150 tons each were procured, as well as two bulldozers, two graders and one hydraulic dredge. About 8m USD was invested in that procurement.

Fod d.o.o. RTB Bor grupa Bor

Serbia Zijin Copper doo Bor

Ministarstvo privrede Republike Srbije

dumper

Majdanpek

grader

Mlađan Dinkić

Blagoje Spaskovski

copper

hydraulic dredge