Fifty years of metallurgical production of zinc and cadmium in Serbia

Abstract

Serbia has plenty of rich sites and active excavation mines of polymetallic ores of lead and zinc and centuries-old practice of their exploitation. In Serbia, the metallurgical processing of zinc concentrate started in 1955 at Zorka company in Šabac, while in the town of Kosovska Mitrovica, it began in 1967 at the Trepča combine. Several factors, including the fall o Yugoslaviam general societal circumstances and ownership transition, lead to a significant decline in production since 1992. It developed to the final halt of zinc's metallurgical production in 1999 at Trepča and in 2002 at Zorka. During the work-life o both production sites, since they opened till they closed, there were several reconstructions and capacity expansions, and all the while, the normalization and renewal of zinc production in Serbia hasn't been realized till 2021.

Keywords

• metallurgy
• zinc
• cadmium