Canada’s Tirex granted six mining exploitation licences

TIRANA, Oct. 29 – Canadian-based Tirex has had six of its mining exploration licences in the Mirdita area, northern Albania, transitioned into 25-year exploitation licences, the company says. The decision was made by Albania’s Economy and Energy Ministry after careful and detailed review of the Tirex applications. “This is an important day for not only Tirex investors but also for the local communities in northern Albania that will benefit from this decision,” said the company. The licenses encompass the deposits known as Fushe Arrez, Qafe Bari, Tuc, Paluce, Gurth 1 and Gurth 2 (Central Gurthi and Koshaj), Gurth 3 and Letitna (South Gurthi and Letitna). “All the licenses for the six different areas are for 25 years. This gives us longevity, and staying power in Albania, allowing us to invest in the development of the company,” says CEO Bryan J. Slusarchuk.
Tirex Resources has acquired the 553km2 Mirdita property covering most of the traditional Albanian Mining District. The company is focusing its efforts towards developing the potential of the Mirdita Project into a major Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide (VMS) District with multiple large deposits of copper, zinc, gold and silver mineralization.
While Canadian companies such as Bankers Petroleum, Petromanas and Stream invest heavily in oil and gas development in Albania, Tirex Resources has acted as a first mover in a new era of the Albanian mining sector.
Already present and successfully operating in the oil and mining industry, Canadian-based companies are showing increased interest in boosting their investments in Albania.
Canada is one of the top four foreign direct investors in Albania with 280 million euros of investments until 2010, ranking after neighbouring Greece and Italy as well as Austria, according to Bank of Albania data.
Government revenues from mining royalties rose by 75 percent to 2.6 billion lek in the first half of this year, according to data published by the General Customs Directorate. Compared to 2009 when legal changes increasing royalty rates were not effective, collection has increased by almost 10 times.
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.
Currently, three main companies are involved in mining in Albania, Austria’s DCM Decometal and Canada’s Empire Mining Tirex Resources.
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.