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Dr Mile Bugarin, Scientific Advisor, Director of Mining and Metallurgy Institute Bor

Example of Success

This facility has the latest generation state-of-the-art equipment, accredited laboratories and exceptionally professional staff for monitoring gas emissions and imissions and the quality of water and soil

Although it is to be expected for Mining and Metallurgy Institute Bor to be involved directly in the issue of resolving air pollution, which has been a hot topic in Serbia recently, its involvement is insufficient, says Dr. Mile Bugarin, the director of this institute, speaking to CorD

Given that air pollution has been the most pressing issue in Serbia in recent days and considering the work at RTB Bor, to what extent is your Institute helping to reduce the negative impact of pollution?

Mining and Metallurgy Institute Bor Logo– The city of Bor is very polluted. The impact of mining and metallurgical activities isn’t limited only to air quality, but also impacts on the quality of water that’s discharged and the quality of land in the vicinity of the surrounding watercourses. With mining and metallurgical activities, large quantities of mining and other types of waste are generated, the waste categorisation and characterisation of which is carried out by the Institute. All of this isn’t something that’s just now emerged. This is the legacy of the former RTB Bor. Heavy particles well beyond the permissible limits are also present in the wastewater of the smelting plant, as well as in waste mine water that mainly gravitates towards the Bor River, and further into the Timok and the Danube.

The Institute’s engagement in monitoring the pollution of Bor and its surroundings is insufficient, or at some initial phase, both with new company Zidjin and with the City of Bor. The Institute has the latest generation state-of-the-art equipment, accredited laboratories and exceptionally professional staff for monitoring of gas emissions and imissions, and the quality of water and soil.

What is the form collaboration between Serbia Zijin Bor Copper doo Bor and Mining and Metallurgy Institute Bor (MMI) generally? Do you work on the basis of market principles?

– Collaboration with Zidjin is only in its infancy, given that the company is being led by new management. The engagement of our capacities with regard to Zidjin is much lower than the capacities we have available, but the tendency is for that to be at a much higher level than it is now. I think that is in our mutual interests. The Institute has been operating under market principles for 12 years, and since the moment of its separation from the former RTB, over the last 10 years, about 10 million euros has been invested in the development of the Institute.

The engagement of our capacities with regard to Zidjin is much lower than the capacities we have available

We have good professional staff and, in the scope of mineral resources, the Institute is ranked at the top, among the best companies in Southeast Europe and beyond when it comes to engineering services, design and quality control with laboratory analysis of metals, non-metals, coal, water, environmental parameters and mining waste. The previous year was very demanding for the Institute’s engineers and designers – difficult, but also successful.

What is the core activity of the Institute; what kind of research do you conduct?

– The Institute is an organisation with multidisciplinary activities when it comes to mineral resources, and that applies to metals, non-metals, coal, water, measurements of emissions and imissions, air quality and suspended particles, waste categorisation, design in geology, mining, technology, metallurgy, construction, mechanical engineering and energy. Within the framework of these activities, the Institute deals with engineering, design, laboratory analysis of almost the entire periodic table of elements in ores, water, air and waste, and do so using accredited methods.

Significant clients come from the countries of the region, but also Japan, Germany, Austria, China… Our Institute is a clear example that a state institution, with good vision, operational organisation and management, can operate successfully regardless of ownership structure. Unfortunately, there are very few such examples in our country.

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