Trepca Mines
Encyclopedia
The Trepča Mines was a huge industrial complex in Serbia
, located in the Kosovska Mitrovica
Municipality.
With up to 23,000 employees, Trepča was once one of the biggest companies in socialist Yugoslavia. In the 1930s, a British company gained the rights to exploit the Stari Trg mine close to Mitrovica. After World War II
, under socialist management, the company expanded dramatically.
The golden age was one in which employment, direct and indirect, expanded massively and the combine paid (by local standards) a decent wage. Yet the 'golden age' was a mythological era, when Trepča depended on the principle of non-accountability, in which investment and current deficits were funded externally. So long as the funding kept rolling in, the incapacity of Trepča to support itself was nobody's problem. Easy funding came to an end in the 1980s, and with it the end of Trepča's 'golden age'.
The Trepča system 'as a rule' lost money under Yugoslav socialism. Because of Trepča's incapacity to generate funding of its own for investment, all investment funding had to be financed externally, by fund providers who did not anticipate that they would see any return on (or of) their capital.
But while Trepča consistently performed poorly, this was not because it could not have been managed more effectively: "Unlike most heavy industry, which lay in the comparative disadvantage sector, Trepča had good mining assets and low cost access to energy, so on the face of things there were no structural reasons for its inability to trade profitably." The mines still have a reserve of 60.5 million tonnes of ore grading 4.96% lead
, 3.3% zinc
and 74.4 gr/tonne silver
thus resulting 3 million tonnes of lead
, 2 million tonnes of zinc
and 4,500 tonnes of silver
.
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, located in the Kosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica , is a city and municipality in northern Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous district....
Municipality.
With up to 23,000 employees, Trepča was once one of the biggest companies in socialist Yugoslavia. In the 1930s, a British company gained the rights to exploit the Stari Trg mine close to Mitrovica. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, under socialist management, the company expanded dramatically.
The golden age was one in which employment, direct and indirect, expanded massively and the combine paid (by local standards) a decent wage. Yet the 'golden age' was a mythological era, when Trepča depended on the principle of non-accountability, in which investment and current deficits were funded externally. So long as the funding kept rolling in, the incapacity of Trepča to support itself was nobody's problem. Easy funding came to an end in the 1980s, and with it the end of Trepča's 'golden age'.
The Trepča system 'as a rule' lost money under Yugoslav socialism. Because of Trepča's incapacity to generate funding of its own for investment, all investment funding had to be financed externally, by fund providers who did not anticipate that they would see any return on (or of) their capital.
But while Trepča consistently performed poorly, this was not because it could not have been managed more effectively: "Unlike most heavy industry, which lay in the comparative disadvantage sector, Trepča had good mining assets and low cost access to energy, so on the face of things there were no structural reasons for its inability to trade profitably." The mines still have a reserve of 60.5 million tonnes of ore grading 4.96% lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
, 3.3% zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
and 74.4 gr/tonne silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
thus resulting 3 million tonnes of lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
, 2 million tonnes of zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
and 4,500 tonnes of silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
.