THE MINERAL INDUSTRIES OF
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Slovenia
By Walter G. Steblez
Europe's Adriatic Balkan region is part of the southern portion of the Mediterranean Alpine folded zone, which extends through the Dinarides of the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Slovenia), the Albanides of Albania, and the Hellenides of Greece. The exploitation of the Bor copper deposit in Serbia may have had prehistoric beginnings; however, mining for base and precious metals may be traced through historical records to at least the 5th century BC.
More recently (from the 1930s to 2000), mineral deposits in the region became better defined. Commercial resources of major base metals included those of aluminium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, magnesium, manganese, nickel, and zinc. Precious metals (gold, silver, palladium, and platinum) were found mainly in association with such base metals as copper, lead, and zinc. Industrial minerals are represented by a broad range of carbonate and silicate rocks, clays, gravels and sands, and volcanic material. Mineral fuels included coal (lignite), natural gas, and petroleum.
Until the early 1990s, the mining, processing, and downstream exploitation of base metals established the region as a major European source of copper, lead, and zinc and a major world producer of chromite. The transition of the region from central economic planning to market economy systems from 1991 to 2000, however, began a swift deconstruction of existing political, commercial, and social structures. The ensuing political, social, and ethnic tensions and conflicts destroyed or degraded much of the region's mineral industries and industrial infrastructure. In 2000, active conflict in the region centered in Kosovo Province in Serbia and Montenegro and in Macedonia.
The future status of the minerals industries in the countries of the Adriatic Balkan region will only be clarified following political settlement and normalization not only between the states in the region, but also within Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, and Serbia and Montenegro.
ALBANIA
In 2000, Albania continued to make progress toward fully developing a market economy system. The country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 7.8% compared with that of 1999. This was the third year of sustained economic growth, following a major downturn in 1997 that was caused partly by internal economic issues related to Albania's transition to a market economy and partly by regional instability, especially in the neighboring republics of the former Yugoslavia.
Mineral deposits that traditionally are associated with Albania include chromite, copper ore, and nickeliferous iron ore, as well as natural gas and petroleum. In 2000, with the exception of nickeliferous iron ore, these deposits and such other minerals as bauxite, phosphate rock, dolomite, gypsum, and marble have been intermittently worked. Only chromite, copper, gas, and oil, which are minerals of major commercial importance, have shown sustained exploitation.
Under the central economic planning system, especially from the late 1970s through 1990, Albania's chromite mining operations were among the more important components of the mineral industry. During this period, Albania was a leading world producer and exporter of chromite; the country often was ranked second in terms of export and third in terms of production. During this period, exports of chromite, ferrochromium, and petroleum refinery products constituted the country's chief sources of foreign exchange.
For much of the 1990s, Albania's chromite mining and processing industry generally paralleled the moribund performance of the country's economy. Mine production, which amounted to more than 1 million metric tons per year (Mt/yr) of chromite in the 1980s, declined to 236,000 metric tons (t) by 1995, and fell to 79,445 t in 1999. Following several years of unsuccessful searches for foreign partners to invest in the chromite mining and processing industry, in 2000, the Government of Albania awarded Hayri Ogelman Madencilik of Turkey a long-term concession to upgrade and operate the Kalimash mining and beneficiation complex and, in addition, to develop mines at the Perollajt and Vllahane deposits in the northeastern part of the country. Hayri Ogelman Madencilik also planned to invest about $40 million in these projects as well as for the construction of a new ferrochromium plant in Elbasan (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 2001a, p. 17).
The existing ferrochromium plant at Elbasan came under operational management of ferrochromium producer, Darfo S.p.A. of Italy because of a long-term, 30-year concession agreement with the Government of Albania (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 2001a, p. 17). The agreement also gave Darfo the right to operate the Pojska and the Prrenjas chromite mines; the Pojska Mine had not produced since 1996, and the Prrenjas Mine last reported production in 1998 (980 t). Darfo's investment plan would amount to $15 million, of which $14.5 million was earmarked for modernization of the Elbasan ferrochromium plant and $0.5 million was to be invested in the Pojska and the Prrenjas Mines. Darfo sought a second concession to operate the Bulquize mining and beneficiation complex.
In 2000, the Turkish copper smelting concern, Ber-Ober
