Concessionaire terminates contract for arsenic exploitation at Lojane, North Macedonia

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Turkish company Kaltun Madencilik A.Ş submitted a request to the Ministry of Economy of North Macedonia for unilateral termination of the concession agreement due to lack of economic interest for further execution of the concession to exploit the deposited arsenic, informed the Ministry of Economy.

The Turkish concessionaire in 2014 signed an agreement with the Macedonian government for exploitation of the technogenic minerals – arsenic and others -from the Lojane dump. The concession agreement was valid until 25.08.2024 i.e. until this period the company could have exploited the arsenic and other waste materials.

The Turkish company informed Meta.mk that since the start of the concession agreement up until today, it has managed to sell around 60 tons of the total estimated quantities at the location, i.e. around 15.000 tons of arsenic sulfide.

The concessionaire stated that it has no obligation to exploit the remaining 1.000 tons of tailings at Tabanovce, since this location wasn’t included in the tendering call.