Vučinić: The Government's goal is to develop sustainable mining

The Government's goal is to develop sustainable mining, according to environmental standards and with respect for the local community, which will contribute to European integration and EU programs for strategic mineral raw materials, announced the representative of the Ministry of Energy and Mining, Marko Vučinić.

"Our goal is to support the economy and simplify procedures, but to make mining environmentally sustainable with a special focus on the rehabilitation and recultivation of the area, as well as on protecting the Montenegrin stone brand," said Vučinić in an interview with the Gazette of the Chamber of Commerce (PKCG).

Vučinić, who is the acting director general of the Directorate for Geology and Mining in the relevant Ministry, said that by the end of the year, the focus of their work will be the completion of the new law on geological exploration, which aims to harmonize this area with European practice, but also to simplify solutions and procedures.

"The special focus of this law will be on hydrogeology, which is currently not adequately regulated, given the increasing importance of water as a resource. Also, special attention will be paid to geological research and seismicity, which is very important since Montenegro is located in an earthquake-prone area," Vučinić said.

He added that the economy will benefit from the simplified procedures of the new law on geological exploration, which will particularly affect the construction sector in the area of seismicity.

"This law will contribute to the establishment of a geological cadastre, which will provide investors with better insight when making decisions about potential investments, and will also regulate the status of the Geological Survey," explained Vučinić.

He also said that the mining sector is a very significant employer in Montenegro, employing more than five thousand people.

"It should be emphasized that this is not just about mines, but also about the exploitation of technical and construction stone. 53 concessions have been issued for detailed geological research and exploitation of mineral raw materials, which is why it is very important to pass a new mining law aimed at serving the economy," explained Vučinić.

He stated that the old mining law had good foundations and established quality standards even during the communist era.

"The new law is necessary to significantly shorten the time of procedures, contribute to the introduction of standards and quality control in mining and the regulation of mining, as well as to the suppression of illegal exploitation of mineral resources and creative interpretation of the current law regarding exploitation for personal use. As Montenegro joins the European Union, solutions for combating illegal exploitation will be modeled on the experiences of Croatia," Vučinić said.

He added that he hopes that the Parliament will discuss the aforementioned laws during the autumn session.

Vučinić said that Montenegro has significant resources - critical mineral raw materials that are of great importance for the development of the EU.

"Our country is rich in red and white bauxite, lead and zinc, as well as technical-construction and architectural-construction stone that we exploit, but also barite in Pljevlja, which was once exploited and exported abroad, but is currently not exploited. Much of this is still unexplored or has been explored at the level of basic geological research, and therefore detailed geological research is necessary," said Vučinić.

He recalled the occurrence of copper ore in the Varina deposit in the municipality of Pljevlja.

"Montenegro follows the dynamics of the EU in all areas, including when it comes to critical mineral resources. It is necessary to place special focus on the technogenic deposit of mineral resources - the Red Mud Basin in Podgorica, where a significant presence of rare minerals has been determined. This is a very current topic and we discussed it recently at a meeting organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Montenegro. The aim of the round table was to discuss key challenges related to the exploitation of mineral resources," said Vučinić.

When it comes to staff, he believes that a major problem is that Montenegro does not have a faculty for geology and mining.

"So, we need to solve the problem of the staff deficit. That is why we are considering the possibility of financing the opening of a faculty or study program for geology and mining, as well as providing scholarships to students. We believe that it would be very important to establish a faculty or study program for geology and mining, because this is a sector that is constantly growing. Unfortunately, in the countries of the region, there is also little interest from students in this field," concluded Vučinić.