On 16th June 2017, the MINEX Europe’17 Forum delegates visited RTB Bor – Serbia’s largest local copper mine in Bor region.
Guests from 12 countries of the world, accompanied by the general director of RTB “Bor” Blagoj Spaskovski, toured the new smelter and sulfuric acid factory, the company announced. General Director of RTB, Blagoje Spaskovski, said that the company, apart from ore whose safe reserves are currently estimated at one billion and 355 million tons, has also secured its future in the new, best available technology.
The visit was widely covered by the local media
He added that the new metallurgical plants today work excellently and achieve the designed parameters.
– We got clean skies and improved environmental protection, improvement of work organization and higher quality of all business segments, especially safety at work – he said.
Spaskovski explained to the guests in detail how and for how long the new metallurgical plants in Bor were built.
In the control room of the new smelter, from where all inputs are regulated – concentrate, electricity, water, oxygen and nitrogen, RTB General Director Bor said:
“The new smelter was built two years ago. It is about “flash-smelting” melting technology, and today only “Mitsubishi” technology, which is twice as expensive, as well as “double flash-smelting” is better than it.
According to him, RTB Bor today has the most modern technology in the smelting part, but not in the converting part.
– We produce 65 per cent of our concentrate, and we import the remaining amount and process it as a service. We have a good profit on the domestic concentrate, and with service processing, we cover the processing costs and the profit is significantly lower there. That is why, among other things, I said at the conference in Belgrade that RTB Bor must find a strategic partner – Spaskovski said.
He also explained how the new smelter was built.
He added that the entire work would not have been completed without the Government of Serbia and its financial and logistical assistance.
– How big this project is also shown by the fact that the building we are in has dimensions of 62 by 90 meters, which are the dimensions of a stadium. The new sulfuric acid factory and wastewater treatment plant are located in an area larger than two stadiums. Next to the smelter is a power plant that converts excess heat into electricity and produces 20 to 30 megawatt-hours of electricity per day – said Spaskovski.
