After several years of preparation, during which was invested a total amount of 12 million BAM, the underground exploitation of the mine “Mineco” in Olovo has officially started. The British “Mineco Group” invested 12 million BAM in this project so far.
Head of the EU Delegation to BiH, Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, stated that the EU made a contribution to this project in a way that the entire research was conducted within the program Horizon 2020, which was financed by the EU through a private-public partnership.
“We will be monitoring the progress of this project as the EU and all of its members. There were numerous difficulties when it comes to the beginning of work of this mine. However, I am hoping that this is the end of that process and that we will have fully operational mine now. We are also planning new projects in the furure period,” said Wigemark.
According to the general director of the mine, Ismar Sabovic, this is the only mine of this ore in the region.
“This is the first underground mine of metal that is open from scratch in BiH. Everything that has been done so far are just inherited rights and obligations, mostly coal. This mine was opened from scratch, since the year of 2012 when we signed the contract on concession. It should mean something to all citizens, especially politicians, that this mine was opened from scratch. We opened 120 new workplaces, and the investor is very strong and willing to invest in BiH. We are marking the first phase today, which is the first step in the construction of the mine, i.e. the underground exploitation,” stated Sabovic.
He believes that this means that we will be able to exploit the ore and deposit it on the surface before the implementation of the second phase, which is the facility for ore processing.
(Source: Radiosarajevo.ba)
