Zijin expects lower output at Serbian copper mine

See News reported that China’s Zijin Mining Group expects productivity to decline at its unit in Serbia Zijin Bor Copper, formerly RTB Bor, due to erroneous decisions of the previous management. President and VC Lan Fusheng said “RTB Bor is an old mine, we have encountered several objective obstacles regarding the strategic moves of the previous management, which will, for some time, make us work with a lower efficiency.” The copper production of Zijin Bor Copper may decline due to the lack of proper planning by the previous management, which was focused on finding the richest ore with the smallest possible costs.
Last year, Serbia picked Zijin as a strategic partner in copper producer RTB Bor. Zijin agreed to keep all the 5,000 jobs at the company. In December it injected USD 350 million into the capital of RTB Bor, acquiring majority ownership. In September, Serbia’s energy minister Aleksandar Antic said Zijin is expected to double the total output of RTB Bor to 120,000 tonnes of copper, 1.45 tonnes of gold and 10.6 tonnes of silver annually.