TIRANA, Feb. 16 – Two junior Canada-based companies have acquired mining and oil exploration licences in Albania as commodity prices are picking up following the mid-2014 slump.
Canada-based Tirex Resources says it has obtained a 25-year mining licence for the Rehova copper property in the southeastern Albanian district of Korà§a.
The license came after a court battle with another private company whose Rehova licence had been revoked by the Albanian government to meet contractual obligations.
Rehova is a high grade past producing copper mine with approximately 84 percent of the pre-mining historic mineralization reported to be intact and with deposits largely untested as to gold, silver and zinc content.
“The approval of the license will finally allow Tirex to move ahead with its plans on Rehova which has been on hold while the court case was being heard. With this license we can begin work on Rehova and update our plans on our Mirdita assets in northern Albania which has also been put on hold as we wait for the resolution on Rehova,” said Tirex president Fred Tejada as quoted in a statement.
Tirex’s Mirdita Project covers an area of approximately 344 km2 and is located approximately 70 km northeast of Albania’s capital city, Tirana and 85km northeast of the port city of Durres on the Adriatic Sea with copper, zinc, gold, and silver mineralization.
Penine Petroleum, another junior Canada-based company, says it has reached a deal with Albania’s state-owned Albpetrol oil company on the exploration and development of the Velca Block, southern Albania.
The production sharing agreement is a 6-year exploratory lease, convertible to a 25-year production lease upon discovery of oil or natural gas accumulations.
“We believe this agreement provides a balanced risk-and-reward contract for the exploration and development of the Velca Block—and, we hope, many other opportunities in Albania,” says Pennine chairman Richard Wadsworth, who led Bankers Petroleum Ltd. in re-developing the Patos Marinza oilfield as its president from 2004 through 2008.
Last year, Canada-based Bankers Petroleum, the country’s biggest oil producer, was acquired by a Chinese company after more than a decade of operations in the country. The acquisition by China’s Geo Jade for $575 million (€392 mln) came as international oil prices dropped to a record low and a company tax dispute with the Albanian government escalated.
The slump in commodity prices since mid-2014 has severely affected Albania’s oil and mining industry, producing the country’s second largest exports, paralyzing investment and cutting staff with a negative impact on the country’s economy.
The 2017 oil and mining prospects seem more optimistic as commodity prices are picking up.
