Figure 42 Case Study - Chelopech, Bulgaria H.Lin, S.Save
Bulgarians Protest Use of Cyanide Leaching By Michael Werbowski, World Press
/February 5th, 2006
CASE STUDY IN BULGARIA Exporting toxic pollution from Europe to Namibia by Genady Kondarev, Bulgarian campaigner
/ November 19, 2015
Dundee Abandons Cyanide Gold Mining in Bulgaria over ‘Public Concerns’
29 | Balkan Gold Atlas
/June, 21, 2010
From the atlas we have selected four sites that were studies more in detail to realise the real conflict and the process of mining at different sites in the Balkan region. The purpose of this study is to conclude a site where intervention is most needed. For better understanding we mapped the movement of the ore from the extraction stage to the smelting stage.
The Chelopech Mine is located in the centralwestern Bulgaria approximately 70 kilometres east of Sofia, the national capital on the southern flank of the Balkan Ranges. The Chelopech mines are underground mine that produce copper and gold. Since the mine opened in 1954, it have extracted 19.7 million tonnes of ore. The mine today is run by Dundee precious metal, a Canadian company. Prior to 1990, the sulphide-rich ore was smelted at Pridop smelter. But in 2010, Bulgaria banned the use of cyanide in the leaching process of gold smelting. The same year, Dundee bought a smelter in Namibia, Africa and the concentrated ore was transported by ship for smelting.
Dundee Precious Metals a Canadian company. The following is the list of their projects. Production mines: Chelopech, Bulgaria Kapan, Armenia Exploration: Serbia Project: Krumovgrad, Bulgaria Smelter: Tsumeb,Namibia
A similar project by Dundee is proposed at Ada Tepe, krumovgrad, in southeast Bulgaria. The company is still trying to open the mine here by tempting the locals with employment opportunities. The project is still under discussion with the Bulgarian authorities, while the local villagers are in conflict about the new proposed mine.