In the next ten years, Serbia will be the European destination for the exploitation of the mineral wealth that foreign has been analyzing for twenty years now.
35 foreign companies are searching for ores in Serbia, and in the coming year will be opened three coal, lead and zinc mines around Krupnj, Pirot and Bosilegrad.
According to official information, there are now more than 220 exploitation and about 130 research fields where geological surveys are conducted. It is expected that influential global companies will run “mini wars” to hold rare ore strategically important for the modern era.
Among the 35 companies that are searching for the Serbian ore are American “Friport”, Canadian “Reservoar Minerals”, British-Australian “Rio Tinto” and English “Mineko limitid”. The influence of American-British and Canadian companies on the future mining strategy in Serbia clearly indicates the direction of the domestic mining economy.
There is no doubt that Serbia indirectly becomes a zone of national interests of the United States on the issue of mineral wealth, stocks of rare minerals and coal in Kosovo and Metohija. In mining exploration, the Canadian mining company “Mundoro” is involved, and Canadians are also interested in strategic partnership with RTB “Bor”, where they already exploring in several locations, while the partner in this line of business is Japanese national company for oil, gas and metals – JOGMEK.
„Nevsun”, a Canadian company, joined the multinational corporations that invest in the exploitation of ore in Serbia, which completed researches in the area around Bor ,in the region of “Cukaru Peki” and undoubtedly confirmed that it is the richest copper site in the world. Serbia, as the “mining Eldorado”, will profit by participating in GDP growth, which should rise to 3% from the current 1.5%.
Serbia will, therefore, be the “target” of powerful world mining companies. This means that we can expect that in the coming decades the mining lobby will “punch” Serbia at high risk of collapsing ecological balance. The mining companies will have influence in the general flows in Serbia and in the region. The battle for ores and minerals will give Serbia some capital, but also big ecological and social problems.
Some regions of Serbia will be under big ecological risks, primarily the Loznica, Bor and Pirot areas. To emphasize, the ore deposit of jadarit, rich in highly wanted lithium is unique in the world. It is estimated that there are reserves of 130 million tons of lithium and more than 10 million tons of borate. The Government of Serbia has formed working groups with the world-wide giant “Rio Tinto” so mine could be opened by 2023 at the latest.
It would be desirable for the government to present to the nation a global strategy of foreign companies that are interested in exploiting the mineral wealth in the coming period, because it is very important that Serbia be protected from large pollution and devastation of the ecosystem.