China’s Zijin Mining Group is seeking an environmental permit for further exploitation of copper and gold deposits at its Čukaru Peki project in Serbia.
As stated in the company's request, it needs to conduct an environmental impact assessment to get access to underground deposits containing 16 million tons of copper and 333 tons of gold in the lower part of the mine.
The document prepared by the Belgrade-based Dvoper d.o.o. and the Mining Institute and submitted for decision to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, says that the planned project development and construction of supporting facilities at the Čukaru Peki will necessitate the relocation of the entire Oštrelj settlement and parts of the Slatina settlement.
The production at the planned underground mine is expected to begin in 2024, meanwhile the expansion is divided in three phases. The first phase involves the construction of an ore processing plant, and a new flotation plant will be a part of the second phase.
For this investment, Zijin and the Serbian Ministry of Mining signed a Memorandum of Understanding in China at the beginning of September.
The total production life of the mine will be 41 years. The upper part of the project is expected to be depleted within the next ten years.
Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief of the European bureau, Rough&Polished
