After the sale of its lead zinc mine Sasa in Macedonia to US-Swiss Orion Finance Fusion Capital, the russian Solway operations in Macedonia was left only to copper mine Bucin.
Buchim DOOEL Radovish is an open pit mine producing flotation concentrate which contains copper, gold and silver.
The total capacity of the plant amounts to 4 million tons of ore per year.
Over 40,000 tons of the copper concentrate containing gold and silver are produced per year.
The construction of the mine was started in 1976 and Buchim became operational in 1979.
Solway Industries acquired Buchim in 2005, winning the international tender arranged by the Macedonian Government.
Within a short period of time the mining fleet was repaired and replaced and a new flotation circuit was installed.
Buchim’s core activity lies in the extraction of the copper ore and its processing. The ore contains 0.2-0.3% of copper and 0.2-0.3 g/t of gold.
The copper concentrate produced at Buchim does not contain detrimental impurities and is sought after by the European smelters due to its quality.
The end product is transported and delivered to the copper smelters in Serbia and Bulgaria.
Buchim has undertaken a new SX-EW project of $15 million for the processing of the stockpiled overburden and oxidised ore with the average copper content of 0.2% – 0.3%. A leading European EPCM provider has been contracted to design and deliver the “turn-key” solution for this operation by the spring of 2011. Buchim plans to start the production of the additional 2,500-3,000 tons of copper in LME-grade cathodes in mid 2011.
