The Mineral Industry of Greece in 2008
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THE MINERAL INDUS T RY OF GREECE By Harold R. Newman The average annual domestic and foreign sales in the mineral Structure of the Mineral Industry sector of Greece in 2007 (the latest year for which data were available) were estimated to total about $1.4 billion and were The major mineral commodities and the companies that divided nearly equally between mining and processing, and produced them in 2008 are listed in table 2. The structure of metallurgy. The mineral sector of Greece covers a wide range the mineral industry changed little from that of 2007. The of industrial mineral commodities, among which are a broad companies were privately owned, and Government ownership spectrum of marble types (some of which are unique by was limited to the mineral fuels sector. international standards), and various metallic ores. Because northern Greece was thought to contain a significant Commodity Review amount of exploitable minerals, that area received the most attention for exploration activity. Geologic studies in Metals Greece were done primarily by the Institute of Geology and Mining Exploration (IGME). These studies provided general Bauxite and Alumina and Aluminum.—Greece was a information on the deposit size, location, and quality of leading bauxite producer in the European Union (EU), and various ores. Greek universities also provided mineral resource S&B Industrial Minerals S.A. controlled most of the significant information. Most of the Greek companies that dealt in metals bauxite reserves. Bauxite is the principal raw material used fabrication, mining of industrial minerals, and refined metals in the production of alumina, which is the major source of production or processing were well established and had a strong aluminum. The major bauxite deposits are located in central export orientation. Greece within the Parnassos-Ghiona geotectonic zone and on Evoia Island. Greece’s estimated 100 million metric tons (Mt) of Minerals in the National Economy bauxite reserves were of boehmitic and diasporic type. Although the bauxite ore had an average aluminum oxide content of 53%, The size of the mineral economy of Greece was small in it also had a high silica content that made it hard to process terms of the world economy, but from the standpoint of the (S&B Industrial Minerals S.A., 2008, p. 9). country’s economic development, mineral industry activities S&B announced that it had signed an agreement to supply were important to the domestic economy and continued to the Western Way for Industrial Development Co. Ltd. of Saudi be an important segment of Greek industry. The metallic Arabia with 1.1 million metric tons per year (Mt/yr) of bauxite minerals sector involved a relatively small number of large for use at an alumina refinery to be constructed at Jazan on capital-intensive companies, which, in some cases, were the Red Sea coast south of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The bauxite engaged in both mining and processing. The industrial minerals would fulfill part of Western Way’s requirement for 3.6 Mt/yr of sector was more prominent in the national economy than was bauxite to produce its planned 1.6 Mt/yr of alumina. Under the the metals sector owing to the value of industrial mineral terms of the agreement S&B would begin supplying the bauxite exports. when the refinery becomes operational and would continue to supply bauxite to the refinery for a period of 10 years (S&B Production Industrial Minerals S.A., 2007). Aluminium de Grèce S.A. produced alumina from bauxite and Greece was a global supplier of several key industrial produced aluminum through electrolysis. The finished product minerals, and production of mineral commodities in Greece was marketed to automobile manufacturers and manufacturers was closely tied to the export market. In 2008, Greece was of building materials and packaging. The Delphes-Distomon the world’s leading producer of perlite and the second ranked S.A. subsidiary mined bauxite from underground mines used by producer of pumice after Italy and was estimated to have its parent company to produce alumina for aluminum production produced about 8% of the world’s bentonite and 1% of the (Hoovers Inc., 2008a). world’s bauxite and nickel. In terms of the value of production, Gold.—Hellas Gold S.A., which was a subsidiary of bauxite was the most important of Greece’s mineral commodity European Goldfields Ltd. of Canada, owned three gold and exports (Bolen, 2009; Bray, 2009; Kuck, 2009). base-metal deposits in northern Greece. These were the The country’s mineral production levels were more or less Olympias deposit, which contained gold, lead, silver, and zinc; the same as in 2007, with a small increase in the production of the Skouries copper/gold deposit; and the polymetallic Stratoni bauxite and zinc in 2008. These changes were related mostly to deposit. changes in demand for those particular commodities. Bauxite In 2008, the Olympias and the Skouries deposits were in the and lignite (which is used as a fuel in powerplants) were the two development stage; the Stratoni Mine was in production. The most abundant minerals in Greece (table 1). Stratoni ore body is a polymetallic massive replacement-type deposit with estimated proven and probable reserves of 1.6 Mt grading 7.6% lead, 179 grams per metric ton (g/t) Greece—2008 15.1 2008 Minerals Yearbook GREECE U.S. Department of the Interior December 2010 U.S. Geological Survey silver, and 10.2% zinc. The mine produced lead-silver and was carried out using explosives, and the quarried material zinc concentrates by a conventional underground drift-and-fill was fed to trucks by means of loaders and then transported to method; this method was ideally suited to this high-grade ore the crushing plant. The production capacity of the quarry was body because it minimizes dilution and maximizes recovery of 500,000 t. The end product that came from the plant consisted of ore, allowing headings to change direction with changing ore anhydrite and hydrous gypsum that was used in the production geometry (European Goldfields Ltd., 2008b). of cement (Lava Mining and Quarrying Co., 2008). The Olympias project benefited from an existing stockpile Stone, Dimension.—Quarries of marble were located of gold-bearing pyrite concentrates, which represented at throughout Greece, both on the mainland and on the islands. yearend 2007 a reserve of about 172,000 metric tons (t) grading The marble industry was active in the quarrying, processing, 23.5 g/t gold. Hellas secured the sale of the entire stockpile to and sale of blocks and finished products. More than 60 six different purchasers, thereby creating a market for its gold different marble types with many colors were available. The concentrates that did not exist before 2007 (European Goldfields Greek marble industry continued to play a leading role in the Ltd., 2008a). international market and its exports included blocks, slabs, and Nickel.—Larco G.M.M. S.A. was among the leading tiles (Greekproducts.com, 2008). ferronickel producers in the world and was the only producer of Aghia Marina Marble Ltd. operated various quarries in nickel in Europe that used domestic nickel ores. Larco estimated Greece. Its main activities were the quarrying of raw marble that there were about 250 Mt of nickel laterite mineral resources blocks, elaboration of marble in slabs and tiles, and production that were spread out mainly across three areas—Central Euboea, of marble-based products. Aghia Marina offered a range of the Neo Kokkina area, and the county of Violia. Larco had three colors in its marble, including beiges, green, grey, black, red, main mines—the Evia open pit, which had an annual production pink, whites, and semiwhites (Aghia Marina Marble Ltd., 2008). of about 1.5 Mt of ore; the Agios Ioannis underground mine, Michelakis Marble S.A., which was located in Kavala in which produced about 700,000 metric tons per year (t/yr) of ore; northern Greece, extracted, processed, and sold marble from and the Kastoria open pit, which produced about 300,000 t/yr its Ambrosia, Thassoa, and Volakas quarries. Michelakis of ore. The Larymna metallurgical plant consisted of four rotary specialized in producing slabs, tiles, and thresholds, as well kilns, five electric arc furnaces, and two converters, and had a as tumbled marble of different kinds and sizes. Michelakis’s total nickel production capacity of 25,000 t/yr of nickel (Larco products were used for construction and decorative purposes G.M.M. S.A., 2008). (Michelakis Marble S.A., 2008). Industrial Minerals Mineral Fuels Bentonite.—S&B was the leading bentonite producer in Coal.—Public Power Corp. S.A. (PPC) was Greece’s major Europe with sales of more than 1 Mt/yr; it was also the world’s producer of lignite, which was the predominant fuel used in second ranked bentonite producer after the United States. S&B electricity generation in Greece. PPC owned and operated remained focused on supplying bentonite to foundries and the about 100 generating plants, which had a combined capacity drilling industry. S&B mined bentonite from its reserves on of about 12,760 megawatts from hydroelectric, thermal, and the island of Milos and produced about 85% of total Greek renewable sources. PPC operated lignite mines that produced bentonite output (Roskill Information Services, 2008). about 63 Mt/yr and also traded wholesale electricity in Europe Cement.—Heracles General Cement S.A. was a subsidiary (Hoovers Inc., 2008b). of the Lafarge Group of France and had three cement plants Natural Gas.—Given Greece’s limited natural gas reserves in Greece. Heracles was the leading processor of carbonate and petroleum resources, production of both was negligible. Its material and a major producer of cement and clinker in Greece.