Mining today participates with 1.5 percent of GDP, when new mines are opened, the mining income will increase to 3.5, and even five percent of GDP.
By 2020, seven mines will be opened in Serbia! Therefore, the mining revenues will increase five percent of GDP, and several thousand new jobs will be opened, reveals to Kurir newspaper Minister of Mines and Energy Aleksandar Antic.
According to him, in the mining and geological sector there are about 22,000 workers in Serbia, and at this moment mining participates with 1,5% of GDP.
– At one of the opening stages there are seven mines, besides the two most talked about in public, which is a copper and gold mine in the vicinity of Bor and a project with lithium near Loznica. It is expected that both mines will be open by 2020. These are the two largest projects of its kind, and this is about world class deposits – says Minister Antic.
According to him, more than a thousand people will get employment opportunities.
– The opening of the mine “Majdani” near Krupanj and Ljubovija is planned for 2018, then the coal mine Jerma near Pirot, as well as the lead and zinc mine near Bosilegrad, until 2020, and mine borer mines in Boljevac near Raska. I must mention another important project, which is the opening of a surface mine in the Kolubara mining basin, which is a replacement project for Tamnava – Zapadno polje “, Antic says, adding:
– All this, with a large number of research that are being carried out, shows that in the future, the importance of mining, without any doubt, will be increasing. These few projects I have provided guarantee that the participate of mining in our GDP will increase from the current 1.5 to three, and even up to five percent.
Minister Antić explains that there are still no precise data on the number of jobs, but he says there will be thousands of them.
– For example, Ljubovija will get around 100 jobs, in Pirot there will be 110, in Bosilegrad 100, at Bor 670 new jobs … When it comes to lithium mine, this number will not be less than 670, maybe even about 1,000 jobs. In the project within Kolubara without dilemma between 1,500 and 2,000 new jobs. All these projects will significantly affect the growth of our economy – concluded Antić.
The lithium site
The most valuable mining resource in the Loznica
Assistant Minister of Mines and Energy Sinisa Tanacković announced the opening of new mines at an unofficial gathering on Lake Bor, organized by the Technical Faculty in Bor.
– The most valuable mining resource of Serbia is the site of lithium in the Jadar Basin, near Loznica. When the exploitation of this mine begins, from here it will be able to get the amount of lithium that would satisfy 10 percent of the world, or 90 percent of European needs for this metal – said Tanackovic.
