10 May 2018 – OLOVO MINE OPENING
Mineco were extremely proud and delighted to host the official opening of the Olovo mine on Thursday 10th May. The mine’s “naming ceremony” was attended by Mr Nermin Dzindic, Minister of Energy, Mining and Forestry, Her Majesty’s Ambassador Edward Ferguson and the Head of the EU Delegation and Special Representative Mr Lars-Gunnar Wigemark. Six years after the concession was granted, with more than 40 permits issued, over 6 million euros of investment the project now employs 120 staff.
Ambassador Ferguson commented “Today marks the opening of the first new mine in BiH for thirty years. This a major investment by a British company, Mineco, which already employs hundreds of people across BiH, and has an excellent reputation for safety and environmental standards. It’s been a long journey to reach this point, and more work is needed quickly so that this mine can become fully operational and provide long-term, sustainable employment to hundreds of people in Olovo and its neighbouring municipalities“.
Dominic Roberts, Chief Operating Officer of Mineco, commented in his opening speech that “this would not have been possible without the close cooperation of the responsible ministries and a mutual desire for this investment to suceed and that thisproject can be considered a working example of foreign direct investment suceeding in BiH“. The Olovo project has a special importance for European mining as it has been nominated as the first test site for the H2020 funded IMP@CT project which aims to identify a technologically innovative way to bring smaller and more complex mining projects quickly to economic feasibility. With mining operations starting this week the delivery of the ore processing plant is planned for the second quarter of 2019.
13.12.2018. / FIPA – Foreign Investment Promotion Agency of BiH
The Foreign Investment Promotion Agency of BiH (FIPA) organized on 13 December 2018 in Sarajevo ” Selection of the most Significant Investors in BiH in 2018 Event” that has been organizing traditionally for more than 10 years.
Awarded companies coming from different industries and one of them was our company ”GEOMET” d.o.o Olovo.
The Olovo concession was acquired by Mineco (… an international group focused on the natural resources sector) in 2012 and received in 2018 the first new Exploitation License to be issued in Bosnia and Herzegovina in over 30 years.
As the project is the first mine to open in Bosnia in over 30 years, its opening has gained national attention, widely seen as a vote of confidence in the country and the economic opportunity.
In this way, FIPA wants to express recognition to foreign companies, and to thank them for their contribution to the economic development of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the employment of the BiH citizen, and for all others economic indicators based on these investments.
The presence of foreign investment sends a strong message to potentials investors that BiH is a country in which the foreign investments are safe and profitable and significantly and contributes to improving BiH’s image both in business and in political terms.
