The intention of the Swiss company Tara Resources to open the Brskovo mine near Mojkovac, a town one hundred kilometers north of Podgorica, was negatively reacted to by ecologists and citizens of the area.
The announcement of the opening of the lead and zinc mine was greeted "with a knife", primarily because of the investor's intention to deposit the mine's waste materials in a new tailings dump.
Namely, the former tailings pond that remained in Mojkovac as a result of the old Brskovo lead and zinc mine was rehabilitated twenty years after it ceased operations. The renovation cost 10 million euros.
The planned two tailings pits of the new mine are almost five times larger than the previous one, which was an ecological black spot in Montenegro for decades, Azra Vuković from the non-governmental organization Green Home told Radio Free Europe (RSE).
And while the investor is talking about the millions that mining could bring, the locals are afraid of new environmental pollution.
"Citizens of Mojkovec are sending a clear message that they will not be an ecological black spot in the 21st century," says Ljiljana Jokić from Mojkovic.
"We do not see a single positive effect of this project, but only devastation, pollution and contamination of the environment. And stopping the development of Mojkovac in the direction of a tourist town," Gordana Đukanović from the citizens' initiative Zdravi Mojkovac, which, she says, is organized with with the intention of "opening the eyes" of the institutions that decide on the opening of mines.
The local administration is not making a statement for now, since the entire work is under the jurisdiction of the Government.
And the government claims that the opening of the mine is good news for Mojkovac and the north of Montenegro, because it will be one of the largest zinc mines in Europe, which will employ around 550 local residents.
In February, Prime Minister Dritan Abazović visited the mine and spoke with the director of Tara Resources, Ričard Boffi, after which it was announced that 25 million euros had already been invested in the project, and that the entire investment was estimated at 150 million.
The Brskova mine is located between two national parks - Biogradska gora and Durmitor - on the Tara River, which is on the UNESCO list.
According to the Constitution, Montenegro is an ecological country.
What should have been done and was not done
Gordana Đukanović states that laws and conventions were not respected when adopting the plans, that the draft of the Detailed Spatial Plan (DPP) for the Brskovo area was not harmonized with any higher order plan.
He adds that key information is missing, such as mercury data in the area and a groundwater study.
"And all this with the contractual obligation that the state receives only 3,5 percent of the profit," says Đukanović.
Although the spatial plan for the mine area coincides with the boundaries of the UNESCO reserve "Man and Biosphere" on the Tara River, the line ministry did not fulfill its obligation to ask for UNESCO's opinion, probably expecting it to be negative, says Azra Vuković.
He also notes that due to its close proximity, the mine will threaten the Biogradska gora national park, affect the Durmitor national park, and there is also a threat to the Tara river, because the Rudinica river flows into it, into which it is planned to pour waste, purified water.
"What is really devastating is that everything is presented to the local population as a green project, although everything indicates that it will have negative effects on both nature and the health of the citizens in the area," says Vuković.
The Agency for Environmental Protection responded to RSE's inquiry that it will express its position on the announced opening of the mine after the report on the strategic assessment of the impact of the Brskovo Detailed Spatial Plan (DPP) on the environment.
As expected, the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism should respond to the remarks expressed during the public discussion that ends on July 3, corrects DPP Brskovo, after which it should be adopted by the Government.
And the planners are asking for the suspension of the detailed spatial plan
And those who worked on it indicate that the plan must be corrected.
In the citizen's initiative Zdrav Mojkovac, they received a letter in which the head of the working team that drafted the Brskovo DPP, Sonja Radović Jelovac, proposes to the Ministry to suspend the development of the plan until the state makes strategic decisions about the area.
Gordana Đukanović says that the most numerous procedural failures, which are mentioned in the letter, confirm the remarks of the citizens:
"It's about a respected team of 19 planners, who worked on the document for 19 months and certainly wouldn't have made a statement so lightly if they didn't have strong reasons. We hope that those who need to hear it will hear it."
The Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, which is headed by Ana Novaković Đurović, did not respond to RSE's question whether the development of the plan has been stopped.
Concessionaire Plans
The old mine in Mojkovac operated from 1966 to the 2010s, while its tailings pit was rehabilitated only in XNUMX, but not the other parts of the mine.
That year, the Government signed a concession agreement with the Podgorica company North Mining, and eight years later the concession was taken over by the Swiss company Tara Resources.
She founded "Brskovo Mine" as the operator of the mine, which would consist of two surface mines, a processing plant and a waste management facility.
The company states in its documents that they plan an annual production of about 45.000 tons of zinc, 13.000 tons of lead, 3.000 tons of copper, and about one million ounces of silver.
By generating annual exports of around 100 million euros, they would be one of the largest Montenegrin exporters, according to company documents.
They would pay about 10 million euros in annual concession fees and taxes, of which the Municipality of Mojkovac would receive almost three million, the plan says.
Their goal, they add, is to be among the largest employers in Montenegro with around 700 workers during construction, while ore mining would require around 450 direct and 200 indirect jobs.
Tara Resources did not respond to RSE's inquiry about the negative views of citizens about the mine that could be heard during public hearings, and whether they expect the green light from the authorities for its opening.
On their website, you can read that all facilities meet European standards, and that the mining area will be largely hidden from Mojkovac, planned ski resorts and national parks due to the hilly configuration of the terrain.
Also, the water that will be used for the mine will be purified, and the mining waste will be combined and stored in an integrated landfill far from Mojkovac, according to the company.
Construction of the mine would take two years, and exploitation 12 to 15 years.
In the Municipality of Mojkovac, they do not want to declare themselves
"As for the actual 'yes' or 'no' for the mine, the local administration will not make a statement, because we expect the profession to decide on it after answering all the questions we asked in the public discussion," the vice president of the Municipality of Mojkovac, Ivan Ašanin, told RSE .
He adds that the Municipality has no part in the decision to open the mine, but that it is the responsibility of the Government.
"If there is a decision to open a mine, we advocate that it be done according to the most modern environmental criteria as it is done in Western Europe," says Ašanin and states that he personally made ten comments during the public hearing on the draft of the Detailed Spatial Plan for Brskovo.
"The question of all questions is whether the mine project is compatible with the construction of the ski resort, which is in an advanced stage. If the answer from the authorities is positive, then we are in favor of an investment that would be 200 to 300 million euros," says Ašanin.
Ski center Žarski, mentioned by Ašanin, is being built on the Bjelasica mountain near Mojkovac, it will have 14 cable cars and ski lifts, and 60 km of ski tracks.
Its construction was announced as a driver of the economic and economic development of this underdeveloped municipality.
Bonus video:
