A working group set up by the Energy Ministry will analyze the implementation of the concession programme and will also inspect the safety conditions and health at work in the Bulqiza mining area.
TIRANA, Oct. 29 – The Albanian government will inspect all active concessions and mining permits in the Bulqiza mining area, northern Albania, to check if there are violations to legislation in force, safety conditions, and scheduled investments. The inspection will be carried out under a working group set up under an order by Energy Minister Damian Gjiknuri.
“The working group will analyze the implementation of the concession programme and will also inspect the safety conditions and health at work. The inspection also includes the identification of unlicensed operators in the Bulqiza area. The working group will also check if the chromium extraction and reserves in each mining permit has been carried out under the terms of the contract. The implementation of the scheduled investments under the terms in the mining permits will also be examined” says the Energy Ministry.
The biggest company operating in Bulqiza is Albania’s Balfin Group. In early 2013 Balfin acquired the Albanian subsidiary of Austria-based DCM Decometal which had been operating the Bulqiza chromium mine, the country’s biggest, since 2007. The mine had been previously managed by Italy’s Darfo.
Tirana-based Balfin Group, one of the biggest enterprises in Albania known for the development of shopping malls and its chain of retailers, is run by businessman Samir Mane. The Bulqiza mine employs 660 people and currently has an annual output of 82,000 tonnes of the lumpy ore and fines, at a grade of 40-45% chromite.
Working conditions in the Bulqiza mines remain poor despite several concession companies taking over the country’s biggest mine. Dozens of miners have died while strikes on better working conditions and wages have often suspended work in the mine.
Several other smaller licensed or unlicensed companies operate in Bulqiza.
In 2012, mining companies operating in Albania carried out USD 50 million in investments, said the National Agency of Natural Resources. Currently only two companies, Albanian Chrome recently acquired by an Albanian group, and Turkey’s Beralb are involved in large-scale mining production, while others such as Canada’s Empire Mining and Tirex are engaged in mining exploration.
Latest data by the Customs Administration show some 5.8 billion lek (Euro 40 million) was collected in mining royalties in the first nine months of this year, up from 4.2 billion lek during the same period in 2012 and around 2.5 billion lek in 2011.
Since 1994, when a new mining law was approved soon after the communist system collapsed, Albanian mines have been explored by private companies under mining permits and concessions.
Albania has around 390 million tonnes of unexplored oil reserves, some 3 billion m3 of natural gas, 740 million tonnes of coals, 32 million tonnes of chrome, and hundreds of tones of other iron-ore and copper reserves, proving the country’s rich mineral reserves despite the small territory it occupies. The findings are revealed in the latest mineral resources map of Albania, an updated version of 1971 and 1989 publications during the country’s communist regime.
The map features Albania’s metal and non-metallic mineral combustible materials and mineral waters in a computerized version accompanied by databases, also classifying the resources based on their importance.
