Expert: Bulgaria needs a national program for the exploration and development of rare earth minerals

The closure of the Geology Committee in 1997 in Bulgaria dealt a heavy blow to geological science and the study of the underground resources of our country. Documentary memory and various studies, databases were plundered. This, together with the lack of state policy, is the reason for the lack of research and development of the extraction of rare earths in our country, the chairman of the Bulgarian Energy and Mining Forum Ivan Hinovski told Radio Focus.

According to him, a conceptual restart of coal production in Bulgaria must be carried out, for which a long-term national program must be developed and funding must be found for geological surveys with analyses of the chemical composition, to reveal these concentrations of precious metals and to announce a concession. With their development by someone who has the technical ability to do it. That way, there will be a lot of funds left in Bulgaria

"Bulgarian coal contains elements from the entire periodic table. Currently, the most expensive metals that are sold on the exchanges are present in our coal in no less quantities. These are vanadium, cobalt, germanium, but it is necessary to study in which layers they are found. In a large part of the overburden, before reaching the coal layer, they also contain valuable minerals, but the main ones are in our lignite coal," explains Hinovski.

Our mining industry is estimated to have the highest degree of efficiency in Europe, the expert pointed out and added that improving and developing the process is a necessarynational program for the exploration and development of rare mineral resources, from which Bulgaria can gain a lot.

"The concession in Chelopech alone for the extraction of gold concentrate provides the budget with between 80 and 100 million leva. The other contributor to the budget is the company in Krumovgrad. These are examples of concessionary mining of rare metals, which have a contribution. I am not talking about the fact that they create jobs and the regions are modernized, as well as the social policy to support local roads and infrastructure,” he said.

The expert is categorical that there should be no closure of concessions, as voices are heard from Bulgarian politicians, since these are high-tech industries that Bulgaria does not possess. "We can make them centers for intensive and economic development by announcing tenders and inviting concessionaires to develop natural resources," Hinovski further argues.

Ukraine and precious lithium

Ukraine is very important because it guarantees the independence of lithium mining worldwide, since all other concessions are held by Chinese companies. This was explained by Hinovski a little later in the program "120 Minutes" on bTV.

"Ukraine has very rare precious metals. You should know that Ukraine is one of the richest countries in Europe, the richest in rare metals. It has over 800 deposits of 94 elements - various chemical, valuable and rare elements. If we were to list the all, the list would be long," he pointed out.

 According to him, the point is that Ukraine really as a very serious lithium resource. This country is in fifth place in the world, with China holding the first place, followed by several countries. in Latin America and Kazakhstan.

 “Ukraine has about 13 million tons of lithium proven. On the stock exchanges in the last few months, the price of lithium has fallen because it turned out that the stock market forecasts for the development of electric cars have fallen - they were overestimated. There is a certain slowdown in the demand for lithium precisely because of the overly optimistic theories for the development of electric cars,” Hinovski also said.

The expert is categorical that Ukraine is “a small island that is independent of China,” because all other deposits in the world are concessioned by Chinese companies. “China is sucking up all lithium production from all countries,” Hinovski added.

He also spoke about the deposits of titanium, uranium, tungsten and graphite in Ukraine, indicating that these elements are important for the military industry and energy.