Serbian government approves new EUR 131.8 million loan for RTB Bor

The Serbian government has approved a new EUR 131.8 million loan to the Mining and Smelter Basin (RTB) Bor for the reconstruction of the copper smelter and the construction of a sulfuric acid factory, which has increased the value of that project to about EUR 301.8 million, RTB said in a release on Friday (8 February 2013).

According to the Serbian government's conclusion, which was presented to the media by RTB Bor Deputy CEO Milinko Zivkovic, RTB Bor will secure new funds by "taking out an additional loan or by selling copper and other metals from the gangue in ore deposits in Bor and Majdanpek in advance."

- The plan is to provide EUR 210 million for the smelter and the sulfuric acid plant, whereas the rest should be used to build a slag flotation, wastewater treatment plant, power plant, accompanying infrastructure, as well as to pay various taxes, duties and insurance bills - said Zivkovic.

He explained that about EUR 40 million from the new loan would be set aside for new projects of Canada's SNC-Lavalin, which is building a new smelter, whereas the rest would be used to satisfy the needs of accompanying factories without which the smelter could not operate.

People at RTB Bor pointed out that the primary works on the new smelter project would be completed by the year's end, assessing that the smelter would start operating at full capacity in the first months of 2014.