part of the country. Poor copper deposits have dictated the construction of 7 mineral processing plants, in order to produce copper concentrate grade over 18 % Cu and about 88% recovery. These plants are situated in Kurbnesh, Reps, Fush-Arrez, Rreshen, Rehove and Golaj. Today, many mineral processing plants in Albania are no longer in operation, some of them have been closed and others have been planned for conservation. During the 1980s, production of nickeliferous iron ore in Albania ranged from 1 to 1.2 million t/yr, of which about a half was consumed at the Elbasan iron and steel works to produce pig iron, a small amount of steel, and salts of nickel and cobalt. Deposits of commercial-grade nickeliferous iron ore were exploited in ultramafic massifs near Pogradec in east50
ern and central Albania. The principal mines were at Prrenjas, Guri i Kuq and Bitinska. Until 1991 the largest mining operation was at Prrenjas, which produced about 600 000 t/yr of ore. The production of nickeliferous iron ore in Albania ceased in 1994 following the collapse of centrally planned economic systems in the countries of Central Europe and the Balkans. Albania’s bauxite deposits are mainly in the centre of the country, just east of Tirana, and in the north near the border with former Yugoslavia. Bauxite reserves are minor, an estimated 12 million t. Albania also has reserves of lignite, natural gas and crude oil. The country’s exploitable coal resources amount to about 158 million t of low-calorie lignite. Lig-