Justin van der Toorn,a research manager with the company that is the major investor in geological and mining research in Serbia so far, has held the presentation at the Fourth International conference on mineral resources. Avala Resources is a Canadian company which, up to now invested 160 million dollars in researches conducted in Serbia and plans to continue making investments. As pointed out by Mr. Van der Toorn, the most significant project is the Timok deposit in the Eastern Serbia, a region with the chance of opening the first gold mine in our country.
Mining can significantly contribute to the growth of the national GDP, which could be facilitated by the public support coming through education and public understanding. Mr. Van der Toorn tried to demonstrate to the attendees the significance of the public support to projects such as this one. The interested community should be shown how important the research process is, using both the data transparency and various types of education materials. Without doubt, one of the major benefit for the local population from these projects is the possibility of employment, Mr.Van der Toorn explained. The company has employed cca 100 people so far.
The important thing is that the company profit has risen from 10 to 15 % since 2013, which will make further business operations more successful.
As a reminder, the first preliminary estimates say that for the opening the first gold mine in Serbia, in the Crni Vrh mountain, between the municipalities Bor and Zagubica, the amount of 170 million Americal dollars will be required. By applying the standard technology of flotation, it is possible to produce two and a half tons of gold. In the new mine, there should be 250 workers employed. According to the study, the first open pit of an average life cycle of 8 years, with annual production of 2.5 tons of concentrated gold, using standard flotation technology. According to the data collected up to now, the sites of Bigar Hil, Korkan and Kraki pešter hold 72 tons of gold in total. The project requires also about two years of investments in the infrastructure upon obtaining all necessary licences and legal regulations related to the environmental protection.
