Prishtina Insight That Paucity of Scientific Research
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Opinion: Imaginary Rebellion Foiled in Kosovo March 25 - April 7, 2011 Issue No. 60 www.prishtinainsight.com Price € 1 NEWS Getting Tahiri: Serbia’s 'Old Mentality' in Gjelane Kosovo Talks to School > page 4 Children who fail to register for their first two years of school have, until now, lost NEWS their chance of ever Long-awaited getting a state Albanian Textbook education. for Serbia's South See Page 22 > page 5 NEIGHBOURHOOD Kosovo Misses Out On 200 Kilos of Cocaine Seized in Mineral Bonanza Albania > page 9 Kosovo is failing to cash in on precious reserves of indium, whose price has rocketed more than tenfold in recent years as a result of its use in such electronic goods as iPads. FASHION visions, mobile phones and other 20,000kg or 20 metric tons of more indium, as the ultimate size By Petrit Collaku electronic goods grows exponen- refined indium a year by 2012. of its reserves are unknown. ‘Chro mo - tially worldwide. Given the current boom in indi- A survey of precious metals osovo is missing out on mil- Industry experts predict that um prices, this would have gener- present at Trepca, the complex some lions of euros a year as a indium prices could reach 3,000 ated the country at least 14 mil- centred near the divided northern Kresult of its failure to Merge’ dollars per/kg because the metal lion euro a year. town of Mitrovica, showed that exploit potentially lucrative is also used in high-tech solar Instead, Kosovo continues to every ton of zinc contained about reserves of a mineral whose value is soaring. panels – of huge interest in these sell unrefined indium for a frac- 200 grams of indium. Extraction > page 18 Indium, a precious metal used energy challenged times. tion of this price to the Swiss firm is reportedly viable when levels in such high-tech equipment as But modest plans to up produc- Glencore in the form of zinc - exceed 100 grams a ton. iPads, aeroplanes and solar pan- tion levels in Kosovo’s mines, par- from which indium is obtained - But no in-depth research has els, has risen meteorically in ticularly at the giant Trepca and lead ore. been made of Kosovo’s zinc value since 2002. plant, have so far stayed earth- Even with an output of only 20 reserves. Figures range from 2 Kosovo’s only English-language Since then, prices have risen bound. tons a year, Kosovo could become million tons in Trepca to 30 mil- newspaper is available: more than tenfold from 90 to 1,000 According to a presentation one of the world’s largest produc- lion across the country. US dollars per kilogramme, as given to potential investors in ers of the metal – and Kosovo Delivered to demand for iPads, flat screen tele- 2007, Trepca hoped to be selling could potentially supply much continues page 2 Your Door Dell: Bondsteel To Kosovar, Serbian Youth Call From Newsstands Be Wound Down for Dialogue across Kosovo The US’s large military base in southern “We have more things in common than Sent To Kosovo, Camp Bondsteel, is likely to be differences and we have a lot of issues to Your Inbox closed as attention shifts from the Balkans discuss as neighbours,” said Vjosa Kika, to other regions, according to the from Prishtina, referring to Kosovars and American ambassador to Kosovo, Serbs. “If we are all aiming for economic From Christopher Dell. In an interview with growth and political sustainability, we our partners Jane's Intelligence Review, need to cooperate and find news Dell added that it was... page 3 feature common solutions.”... page 12 see page 16 for more info is supported by: 2 March 25 - April 7, 2011 news Kosovo Misses Out On Mineral Bonanza A Hot Metal from page 1 explore this or even separate them workers. More than 4,000 have due to the destroyed metallurgical been pensioned off by the Kosovo “Kosovo is aware of the pres- plants,” Shala said. government. ndium is produced mainly ence of indium but the problem is Kosovo has considerable Production started plummeting from residues generated dur- the separation of the mineral,” deposits of cadmium, germanium, in the 1990s as a result of lack of Iing zinc ore processing but is complained Zenun Elezaj, a mem- thallium and gallium, as well as investment, the international also found in iron, lead, and cop- ber of the governing body of the indium, all used in the production sanctions placed on Serbia, which per ores. Independent Commission for of high-tech electronic goods. then ruled Kosovo, and growing Canada is a leading producer. sumed is largely a function of Mines and Minerals, ICMM, the But Shala added that the quanti- friction between Albanians and The Teck Cominco refinery in worldwide LCD [liquid crystal government body charged with ty of rare elements in Kosovo Serbs in Kosovo. Trail, British Columbia, is the display] production. Worldwide running the mining industry. remained unknown given the Lawsuits issued by creditors largest single source indium pro- production is currently at 476 He told Prishtina Insight that paucity of scientific research. since the conflict ended in 1999 ducer, with production of 32,500 tons per year from mining and a the government needed to issue a “The research sector in Kosovo have made the process of finding a kg in 2005. further 650 tons per year from tender to a company to carry out was destroyed 20 years ago, not sustainable solution to Trepca The Malku Khota property in recycling. proper research at Trepca and fur- only in Trepca but in the whole even more difficult. They claim Bolivia is the largest source of Demand has risen rapidly with ther on to an area 80 by 35 kilome- sector of mineral research,” he the industrial behemoth owes indium, with an indicated the popularity of LCD computer tres in size. said. them more than 50 million euro. resource of 845,000 kg and an monitors and television sets, He said the value of Trepca In February, Kosovo’s Supreme inferred resource of 968,000 kg. which now account for 50 per would markedly increase follow- Trepca - a sleeping giant: Court appointed an administrator Adex Mining Inc’s Mount cent of indium consumption. ing a survey of that kind. “We to liquidate the mine’s assets, pay Pleasant Mine in New Increased manufacturing effi- need a detailed study to see how Once one of the most important off creditors and privatise the Brunswick, Canada, holds about ciency and recycling, especially much indium and other rare met- enterprises in former Yugoslavia, plant. 15 to 20 per cent of the world’s in Japan, maintain a balance als are found in the ores,” Elezaj employing more than 20,000 peo- But this decision has met with total known indium resources. between demand and supply. said. ple, Trepca almost came to a com- opposition from many corners, The amount of indium con- (Source: Wikipedia) Ferat Shala, manager of Trepca, plete halt after 1999. including trade unions, Kosovo’s said that while the indium rush Today Trepca has Chamber of Commerce and the brown coal, lignite, could be worth mine under the UN Kosovo mis- gathered momentum in the world, only 1,345 opposition nationalist 7.6 billion euro in the next 25 sion, UNMIK, said recently: “We it seemed to be receiving no atten- active Vetevendosje [Self-determination] years. are looking here for lead and zinc, tion at all in Kosovo. party. To date, the ICMM has issued 21 also some silver, and of course we The trouble was that the tech- Bislim Muca, spokesman for the licences to private firms to explore have our eyes open if we see some nology in Kosovo was not up to mine, claimed that the sole pur- metals, although this has not indication that there could be cop- extracting the element in those pose of establishing the adminis- resulted in much mining. per and gold.” areas where zinc was found, he trator was to liquidate Trepca One of the largest players is Drilling will start this summer said. “and pay off the creditors”. Canadian-based Avrupa Mineral in the licensed zone, near Trepca’s “Trepca cannot treat these pre- “The decision is economi- Ltd, which obtained a new explo- main mine. “If we find something, cious metals because of the cally illogical and we will not ration licence last month for an there are good chances that it destruction that occurred in the accept it,” Trepca’s manag- area covering 36.9 km2, targeting could be close to the surface, not so [Kosovo independence] war,” er, Shala, told Prishtina lead, zinc and silver. The firm now deep, and this permits to open a Shala told Prishtina Insight. Insight. has five exploration licences total- mine very quickly,” Nelles said. Four out of Trepca’s eight ing 185.5 km2 in Kosovo. He recalled that when he man- mines and its two metallurgical Much potential, According to a press release aged Trepca, “I said to the plants, one for lead and one for little action: issued by the firm, the latest area Kosovars, you are still mining the zinc, used to extract metal from has a high potential for the “dis- ore bodies the Romans already the ore, are out of use. covery of new base and precious knew 2,000 years ago. It’s estimated that the “Germanium and other rare metal targets”. “There was no study for many value of Kosovo’s mineral elements are present [in Paul Nelles, Avrupa’s senior years and I think we are on the resources, which include the Trepca] but we cannot representative for Kosovo opera- right track.