May 18 (SeeNews) - The government of Bosnia's Serb Republic signed two concession contracts with ArcelorMittal Prijedor for iron ore mining and exploitation of technical building limestone, local media reported.
The first concession agreement foresees mining 3 million tonnes of iron ore from a deposit located near Ljubija, which is expected to begin by fall, news agency SRNA reported on Tuesday, citing minister of industry, energy and mining of the Serb Republic, Petar Dokic.
The iron ore mining project is expected to employ about 200 people, Dokic said.
Under the second agreement, ArcelorMittal will exploit technical building limestone at the Drenovaca deposit near Prijedor.
The value of the concession contracts was not disclosed.
ArcelorMittal Prijedor was established in 2004 as a joint venture between multinational steel and mining company ArcelorMittal with a 51% stake and local mining company RZR Ljubija with a 49% stake. ArcelorMittal also owns a steel plant in Zenica, located in Bosnia's other entity, the Federation.
The Serb Republic is one of two autonomous entities forming Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other one is the Federation.