Confirmed Serbia copper exploration locations to be offered to foreign investors for JV, 130 M USD value of investment projects

Serbian copper mine company RTB Bor plans to offer to foreign companies investors in mining industry existing confirmed copper/gold locations for joint exploration. Minimal investments for two mines are estimated at USD 100 mill respectively and for the Coka Marin mine at USD 30 mil at least. The annual production in these mines is estimated at 40.000 tons of copper.

General Manger of the Mine and melting basin, Bor, Blagoje Spaskovski, has announced that by the end of August, a tender for the strategic partner in three copper accumulations in Bor and Majdanpek could be released.

– Already in August we are expecting a tender for strategic partner for the copper accumulations exploitation in Borska reka, Cerovo primary and Coka Marin – the director said to journalists upo the Day of the Miners, August 6.

In these mines, one or more strategic partners will have a majority stake and the managing package but their total investments will not go over 40% of the total RTB property.

Minimal investments for two mines are estimated at USD 100 mill respectively and for the Coka Marin mine at USD 30 mil at least. The annual production in these mines is estimated at 40.000 tons of copper.

– The copper concentrate from three mines will be melted in the new Bor-based melting plant which will be completed by December 23 – the General Manager said.

Spaskovski repeated that, after RTB restructuring which is in progress, majority stake will be turned into the state-owned capital and commercial trustees will get their debts back in line with the agreement.

The debts of RTB total some USD 1 billion. The major portion of debts (80%) refers to state-owned trustees and the remaining portion goes to domestic and foreign trustees.

The data show that in the first six months this year, RTB generated profit of USD 7,5 mil, although rain made the works on the Bor and Majdanpek-based pit mines more difficult.