Public areas of interest for development

In 2011, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change (presently Ministry of Environment and Energy) set up an ad hoc committee with the mandate to create an inventory and evaluate all Public Mining Sites and Public Areas of Industrial Minerals of the country. As a result, the economic and resource potential of 114 Public Mining Sites and 22 Public Areas of Industrial Minerals were evaluated in detail from 2011 to 2014. The assessment of the overall 136 sites and the prioritization for their development was based on several criteria, on data from multiple reports, the results of the European project Promine and the expert evaluations of the committee members derived from their in-situ visits in selected sites. The final assessment report was delivered in October 2014 and included: An inventory of the 114 Public Mining Sites and of the 22 Public Areas of Industrial Minerals, an evaluation of their reserve and economic potential, their potential for future development and a short list, prioritizing the sites that could be offered for immediate development. Regarding the latter,

• 23 Public Mining Sites may be offered for immediate development, through the launch of a public, open, and international invitation to tender for the leasing of the Metallic Minerals’ Ownership Right. 11 Sites need to be further surveyed by the State (i.e., HSGME).
• 9 Public Areas of Industrial Minerals may be offered for immediate development by launching an invitation to tender for their leasing.

Further information on the 23 Public Mining Sites and on the 9 Public Areas of Industrial Minerals may be drawn from the Web GIS Application.