June 7 (SeeNews) - The Western Balkans have a great chance for the further development of mining, as they are rich in mineral resources that are very important for European industry, a senior representative of UK-based Mineco Limited said on Thursday.
The current situation in Europe and the need of the EU to protect its industry is a big chance of mining in the Western Balkans, the operations director of Mineco, Dominic Roberts, said during a panel discussion at the Third Mining Academy in Central and Eastern Europe held in Belgrade, Serbia, according to a statement issued by the company's local PR representative.
"De-globalisation, trade tariffs, the ever increasing potential for trade conflict, base metals at historical highs and increasing concern over primary copper supply, have all further strengthened the requirement for European mining," Roberts said.
"Closing in on SEE or rather the Balkans, I believe we are uniquely poised to exploit this opportunity; a prospective region with numerous partially and a number of fully defined deposits," he added.
The Mineco operations director estimated that due to these factors, the attitude towards mining is also changing
"Mines have opened in the last couple of years in the UK, Spain, Portugal, Slovakia and here in both Bosnia and Serbia. Equally as resources grades lower across the globe and the world class deposits become harder to find the high-grade but often small and complicated deposits we host throughout Europe are looking increasingly attractive," Roberts explained.
According to him, this is an opportunity that the Balkans has to take.
"A prospective region with numerous partially and a number of fully defined deposits. We have an educated workforce and broadly enjoy a cultural acceptance of mining. Good infrastructure and relatively benign topography and climate. All these factors further reinforce the potential," he said.
Roberts added that, however, there are many challenges in mining all over the Balkans. "Across the Balkans the various mining codes are neither aligned to each other nor internationally accepted best practice," he said.
In May this year, Mineco opened a new mine in Bosnia, the Olovo, and in 2017 in Bosilegrad, Serbia. Thus, Bosil-Metal became the first fully built mine with underground exploitation in Serbia in the last 40 years.
Mineco, jointly with partners, owns another two lead and zinc mines in Serbia - Rudnik near Gornji Milanovac and Veliki Majdan.
In Bosnia, Mineco, is also the majority owner of the lead and zinc mine Gross, and the antimony mine near Novi Gorazde. In Celebici, near Foca, the exploration works were completed successfully and an elaborate report on the mining reserves has been certified.