Mining Company Albanian Chrome Restarts Ferrochrome Production in Elbasan

The plant halted operations in November, just after half a year of operation, due to a drastic decrease in international metals prices, the company said in a statement.

ACR put into operation in early August two furnaces wth a combined installed capacity of 3,000 tonnes of high carbon ferrochrome per month. The company plans to put into operation next month its third furnace with an installed capacity of 1,500 tonnes of low-carbon ferrochromeper month as part of its 30 million euro ($42 million) investment plan.

“We shall have low-carbon ferrochrome out of this furnace. Low-carbon ferrochrome is produced for the first time not just in Albania, but also in the region, as the plants producing this kind of product count by the fingers of one hand,” the plant's prouction manager Alfred Vangjeli said in the statement.

Despite the economic crisis Albanian Chrome ACR has not laid off employees.

ACR is owned by Austrian-based trading company DCM DECOmetal. ACR bought the concessions on the Elbasan plant, on the ferrochrome plant in Burrel, on the Bulqize ferrochrome mine and some smaller other mining units from Darfo Albania in 2007. Darfo Albania, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Italian copper smelter Darfo, was granted a 35-year operating concession on the Burrel plant, the Bulqize mine, the plant in Elbasan and the Katjel and Pojske chrome mines in 2001.

The company launched its 30 million euro three-year investment programme in 2008, aiming to raise the output of the Bulqize mine to 15,000 tonnes of chrome ore per month from the current 6,500 tonnes, extend the mine's lifespan by up to 25 years and improve the working safety conditions at all of its mines. ACR said earlier it aimed to export 50,000 tonnes of ferrochrome per year to EU countries by 2009.

($=0.7096 euro)