Canada’s Erin boron exploration in Serbia shows serious mining potential

Canada-based mineral exploration and development company Erin Ventures’ exploration activities in Serbia show the country has a significant boron mining potential, a Serbian government aide has said.

“The research indicates that there is good potential, but still there is no verification so we cannot precisely say what the reserves are,” Ivan Jankovic, an advisor to the minister of energy and mining, said in a video file posted on the website of Serbian public broadcaster RTS on Friday.

Earlier this month, Erin Ventures, which carries out exploration activities at its Piskanja wholly-owned high-grade boron deposit in Serbia through local subsidiary Balkan Gold, said the chemical assays of the final set of four drill holes intersected a mineralisation averaging 25.8%, 29.3%, 26.7% and 31.7%, respectively.

Piskanja is a high-grade boron deposit with an indicated mineral resource of 7.8 million tonnes, and an inferred resource of 3.4 million tonnes.

Currently, a total of 50 companies carry out about 120 exploration activities in Serbia and some of the locations show significant potential for the opening of mines, Jankovic said.

“The state owns the mineral resources, therefore it also has data from companies that have stopped exploring at certain locations,” the government aide said.

Mining companies pay a fee of 10,000 dinars ($96.7/84.8 euro) per square kilometre for exploration activities carried out in Serbia, RTS said.

In 2014, British-Australian mining corporation Rio Tinto discovered the world-class lithium borate deposit in the valley of the Jadar river, near the Serbian town of Loznica, and plans to start production in 2023. The Jadar lithium borate discovery in Serbia is estimated at 135.7 million tonnes with a weighted average concentration of 1.86% of lithium oxide, representing one of the largest lithium deposits in the world.

Source: seenews