Chinese company opens massive eco-friendly mine in Serbia

By Trend

Chinese mining company Zijin opened a major new copper and gold mine near the Serbian city of Bor on Friday, which is expected to increase Serbia's copper production share in Europe while meeting the EU standards as a "green mine", Trend reports citing Xinhua.

The opening ceremony for the Cukaru Peki mine was attended by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, and Chinese ambassador to Serbia, Chen Bo.

Following a tour of the production facilities, Vucic praised the high technology and ecological standards, noting that Zijin's purchase of Serbia's state-owned mining enterprise RTB Bor in 2018 had saved the company from collapse.

Meanwhile, the new mine is "an enormous thing for Bor and the whole of eastern Serbia," he added.

Zijin said that the newly opened "green mine" will exploit one of the richest deposits of copper and gold in the world, using highly efficient mineral processing technology.

The Chinese company acquired Canadian mining company Nevsun at a price of 1,487 million U.S. dollars in 2019, and thereafter became the equity owner and operator of the Cukaru Peki mine. Zijin invested 474 million U.S. dollars in the establishment of the new mine, including new technologies and higher ecological standards.

Chen said that the opening of the Cukaru Peki mine marks an important day for the development of Serbia, and for China-Serbia cooperation.

"I am very happy that the mine is built as an advanced green mine, which fulfils Chinese, Serbian and EU standards," she said.