Zijin to continue mining in Kraku Bugarescu copper deposit: Plans to open three more mines, will invest USD 117 million in first one alone

Mining company Serbia Zijin Copper doo Bor has submitted a request to the relevant ministry for the preparation of an Environmental Impact Assessment Study for the exploitation of the Cementacija 2 and Cementacija 3 ore bodies at the Kraku Bugarescu – Cerovo Cementacija deposit.

The deposit is 13 kilometers away from Bor and two kilometers away from the village of Mali Krivelj, and is located on the ridge of the Kraku Bugarescu hill.

The project represents a continuation of decades of mining activity in this region (exploitation at the Cementacija 1 open pit mine).

The request was prepared by the Faculty of Mining and Geology, University of Belgrade, and the project is based on previous approvals from the Ministry of Mining and Energy from 1991 and 2018.

Production of 3.5 million tons of ore over seven years

The mine development is planned in five phases, with exploitation first taking place in the northern part of Cementacija 2, then the mine is to expand to the southwest, Cementacija 3 is to open, and later the Cementacija 2 and 3 mines are to be expanded to the south, while the reserve resources in the Cementacija 4 ore body will be exploited in the southeast of the deposit.

The Cementacija 2 open pit mine is designed for an annual production of 3.5 million tons of ore, and the planned operating life of the mine is seven years.

The Cementacija 2 project is estimated with a net project value of USD 117 in the best-case scenario, making it one of the most significant investments in the mining sector in Serbia in recent years.

Expansion of the tailings dump

The total amount of tailings that will be generated during exploitation is 61.1 million tons. For the needs of the exploitation of the open pits Cementacija 2 and 3, the existing tailings dumps of the open pit Cementacija 1 will be expanded, the document states. It is added that after the expansion, it will have sufficient capacity during the planned exploitation, of 61.9 million tons of tailings.

Ore exploitation in the Cementacija 2 and 3 mines will be carried out using the so-called discontinuous technology, which includes drilling, blasting, loading and transporting useful raw materials to the primary crusher, transporting and disposing of tailings, dewatering and auxiliary works.

Pipelining of the Cerova River

The project will affect the Cerova River watercourse, whose natural bed passes between the mine and the access roads, so, according to the request, it is planned to perform a deviation and pipelining of the Cerova River bed and build a retaining bank wall, downstream, in the part of the road embankment.

As a reminder, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia in December 2023 annulled the decision of the Ministry of Mining and Energy, which had allowed Zijin to “illegally split the project” in Krivelje and thus avoid a comprehensive environmental impact assessment. The court ruled that the study had to cover all aspects of the project, including exploitation, opening of the mine, tailings disposal and long-term environmental consequences, and that it could not be limited to individual phases.

B. P.

Serbia Zijin Copper doo Bor

Ministarstvo zaštite životne sredine Republike Srbije

Rudarsko geološki fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu

Serbia Zijin Copper doo Bor

Ministry of Environmental Protection

Kraku Bugaresku

Cementacija

Cerovo

Cerova River

copper deposit

opening of a mine

mine

request for the preparation of an Environmental Impact Assessment Study for the exploitation of the Cementacija 2 and Cementacija 3 ore bodies at the Kraku Bugarescu Cerovo Cementacija deposit