China's Zijin obtains all permits to start commercial production of copper and gold in Serbia
(Kitco News) - Zijin Mining announced todaythat its subsidiary Serbia Zijin Mining Doo has obtained the permits for theuse of all mine facilities of the Upper Zone of the Timok copper and gold mineissued by the Ministry of Mining and Energy of Serbia on 12 October 2021.
The company said that havingcompleted all the formalities required for the current stage of production, theTimok mine will commence formal production in compliance with the laws and regulations.
The construction of the miningand processing project of the Upper Zone started in early 2019. Theconstruction task took around two and a half years to complete.
"The project entered into trialproduction stage in June 2021 and has now passed the acceptance check organisedby relevant departments in Serbia, realizing a smooth transition from projectconstruction to production and operation," the company said in a statement.
The Timok mine (also known asthe ?OEukaru Peki copper and gold mine) is a large-scale copper and gold mine.The reserve volumes of resources at the Upper Zone are1.28 million tonnes ofcopper metal and 81 tonnes of gold metal; the volumes of resources at the LowerZone are 14.30 million tonnes of copper metal and 299 tonnes of gold metal.
The mining and processingproject of the Upper Zone of the Timok mine is designed to process 3.30 milliontonnes of ore per annum. The first mining section will be the super-high gradeore deposit. It is expected the project will produce 50,000 tonnes and 3 tonnesof copper and gold in concentrate form in 2021, respectively.
By Vladimir BasovFor Kitco News
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