SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina), February 1 (SeeNews) – UK base metal miner Mineco said it has invested over $1 million (927,200 euro) in the construction of its lead mine near the municipality of Olovo in Bosnia and Herzegovina over the past 12 months, and is due to open it shortly.
After four years of project development and construction of underground facilities, the preparations for the opening of the mine are in the final stages, Mineco said in a statement e-mailed to SeeNews on Tuesday.
This mine, the first underground mine in Bosnia and Herzegovina after 30 years, will employ up to 200 workers once operating at full capacity.
According to local media, works on the mine have cost the company a total of 17 million marka ($8.7 million/9.4 million euro).
Currently, Mineco operates in Bosnia's Serb-dominated entity, the Serb Republic, with its partners through Gross Mine near Srebrenica, which is the largest and the most successful corporate entity of that region.
As the largest mine in Mineco Group, Gross Mine currently employees 527 workers.
With a production of about 330,000 tonnes of ore in 2016, Gross has exceeded the record results of the previous year, which is an increase of more than 180 percent since 2007, when the concession agreement was signed, Mineco said.
Although Gross was obliged with the concession agreement to invest 14.3 million euro in the concession period of 30 years, the amount had been exceeded in 2015 due to ambitious plans for development and modernization of the mine. The company plans to invest a further 2.68 million euro in the mine in 2017.
Elsewhere in Southeastern Europe (SEE), Mineco is also active in Serbia, where it is due to soon open a Bosil-Metal lead and zinc mine.
($=0.9272 euro)