China-based Zijin Mining Group’s Serbian unit Zijin Bor Copper will invest $408mn in 2021 at Bor mining complex, according to local media citing a statement by the company. In 2020, the company had invested $360mn in the complex.
The company aims to increase its copper cathode production capacity by 18pc to 83,450mt per annum.
It aims to use the investment for the reconstruction of the existing structure and to open new mines to ramp up the copper smelter at Bor.
The company will finish the construction of a flotation plant at the Majdanpek mine in Q2 2021. It also plans to build a similar plant at the Veliki Krivelj mine by the end of the current year (Dec 2021). It also intends to increase the production from the Novo Cerovo open-pit mine and process 10,000mt of ore per day from April.
Zijin Mining had acquired 63pc of equity interest in Bor Serbia in 2018, acquiring majority ownership, and renamed it to Zijin Bor Copper.