Zijin Mining has announced plans to increase the annual capacity of its Serbian project to 450,000 tonnes of copper and 10 tonnes of gold, positioning Serbia as the largest copper producer in Europe, according to the company’s board chairman, Chen Jinghe.
The investment by the company in the former Mining and Smelting Basin (RTB) Bor is four times greater than the planned $1.26 billion, with production exceeding expectations and commitments from the agreement signed in 2018 with the Serbian government, Jinghe informed Serbian journalists during their visit to China.
“Last year, Zijin produced 240,000 tonnes of copper and 7.5 tonnes of gold in Serbia, completing the first phase of construction,” said Jinghe, adding that future investments will focus on developing underground copper and gold mines, with estimated reserves of around 20 million tonnes of copper and between 700 and 800 tonnes of gold.
He also stated that the company will invest more than initially planned according to the memorandum of understanding signed in September 2023 with the Ministry of Mining and Energy.
“We are currently in the process of defining a five-year plan with the goal of reducing carbon emissions at all our mines, thereby creating green mines,” Jinghe declared.
He mentioned that their mines in China have started testing electric trucks, and if successful, the same trucks will be used in the Bor mines.