Chinese company planning production of 3.9 tons of gold and 70.9 tons of silver per year in Bor – Zijin to build new facility for precious metals worth EUR 15.7 million

Serbia Zijin Copper has filed to the Ministry of Environmental Protection the request for the determining of the scope and the content of the Environmental Impact Assessment Study of the Project of the Phase-Based Construction of the Facility for the Production of Precious Metals and Selenium and the Facility for the Production of Copper Sulfate with Side Facilities within the company’s complex in Bor.

According to the document, within the existing Copper Smelter, the construction of the Facility for the Production of Precious Metals and Selenium is planned, as the first phase of the construction, whereas the Facility for the Production of Copper Sulfate will comprise the second phase of the construction and be the subject of a special project and a special environmental impact assessment study.

The capacity of the Facility for the Production of Precious Metals and Selenium is defined by the quantity of the anode sludge as a raw material, which is 800 tons a year, and the plan is to produce around 3.9 tons of gold a year, 70.9 tons of silver, 50.9 tons of selenium, 7.4 kilograms of platinum and 66.7 kilograms of palladium a year from it, as well as the residue for the leaching of tellurium in the quantity of 19.34 tons per year.

The estimated value of the facility is RSD 1,842,001,302 (around EUR 15.7 million).

– The construction of new facilities is planned because of the fact that, with the increase of the capacities of the electrolytic refining of copper, the quantity of the anode sludge, which is the raw material for the production of precious metals and selenium, will increase as well. The new facility, in addition to having a larger capacity, will also use the latest technology and more modern equipment – says the request.

The project documentation envisages the construction of a facility for the production of precious metals and selenium (Gold Plant), with a section for the heat treatment of selenium, a section for hydro-metallurgy treatment and a section of the refining of Ag, Au, Pt and Pd, as well as electronic rooms from which the motors/electronic equipment at the facility are controlled, a guardhouse, and a section for cooling and processing water (section buildings and a processing water pool).

For the needs of the new equipment, a new substation and a low-voltage switchgear will be built. Also, new roads will be built, in line with the requirements of the fire regulations.

The gross building area (GBA) of the facility for the production of precious metals and selenium is 5,865.28 m2.

On the parcel which is the subject of the project, there are no existing facilities that are in the function of the production of precious metals and selenium. The existing facilities are mostly out of use, or are planned to be abandoned soon. According to the document, for the purpose of the realization of this project, the old copper wiring factory (3,450 m2), which is out of use, and two side buildings need to be removed.

The preliminary project was prepared by Ludan Engineering doo Beograd. The request was processed by the Institute for Technology of Nuclear and Other Mineral Raw Materials (ITNMS).

I. Z.

Serbia Zijin Copper doo Bor

Ministarstvo zaštite životne sredine Republike Srbije

Ludan Engineering d.o.o. Beograd

ITNMS Beograd

Serbia Zijin Copper

Ministry of Environmental Protection

Ludan Engineering doo Beograd

Institute for Technology of Nuclear and Other Mineral Raw Materials

ITNMS

Environmental Impact Assessment Study of the Project of the Phase Based Construction of the Facility for the Production of Precious Metals and Selenium and the Facility for the Production of Copper Sulfate with Side Facilities

Facility for the Production of Precious Metals and Selenium

Facility for the Production of Copper Sulfate

Bor Copper Smelter

gold

silver

selenium

platinum

palladium

copper