Erin Ventures rich boron field, competition to market dominance of Rio Tinto in Serbia

The Canadian company ” Balkan gold” operating under Canadian mining company Erin Ventures found a rich field of boron minerals near Usce near city of Kraljevo, whose value is estimated at about half a billion EUR. Boron market is currently dominated by Rio Tinto and Turkish government mines.

Minister of Mining and Energy Aleksandar Antic pointed out that it was of great importance for the region and that 500 to 1,000 people could be employed to work on the exploitation of the mineral and in the boric acid plant, if we managed to open it.

During a tour of the Ibar mine, Antic told reporters that he would talk to that company which was domestic legal entity, and backed by the Canadian capital, on the possibility of a partnership to open a boron minerals mine.

The first indicators of the sites say that there are 7.5 million tons of minerals with a high content of boron oxide, and it is estimated that the value of this deposit is about 500 MEUR.

”If we can implement the project in full and also open a boric acid factory in addition to the minerals exploitation, it would be the right move”, Antic said.

He added that one part of the miners from the existing mines in this region, which were at the end of the working life, could be transferred to this new finding site.

Piskanja location is located in a historical mining region that has good infrastructure for mining including roads, rail, electric power, experienced miners, etc., 250 km south of Belgrade, Serbia by good paved roads. Erin Ventures reported on August 31, 2010, that it had been granted a license for the Piskanja boron deposit in Serbia by the Serbian Ministry of Mining and Energy. The license includes the entire known historical mineralized area along with a substantial amount of previously unexplored ground.

On December 2nd 2013, Erin Ventures filed a National Instrument 43-101 compliant Technical Report and Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Piskanja boron deposit. The MRE reports an Indicated Mineral Resource totalling 5,600,000 tonnes with an average B2O3 content of 30.8 percent, and an additional Inferred Mineral Resource of 6,200,000 tonnes with an average B2O3 content of 28.8 percent.