MINSK, 19 July (BelTA) – Results of the work to find gold, copper, platinum, and uranium ore in Belarus were revealed by Vasily Kolb, Deputy Head of the Central Office for Natural Resources, Head of the Geology Office of the Belarusian Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Ministry, at a press conference on 19 July, BelTA has learned.
According to the source, work to find gold in Belarus was done as part of the government program on exploring mineral deposits and building up the country's raw materials base in 2011-2015. In particular, exploratory work was done in Stolbtsy District, Minsk Oblast. A promising area named Zuberovo was identified as a result. Gold occurrences were detected at 300-500m below the surface. It is now necessary to perform a full cycle of geological prospecting work at the site. The site has been added to the list of sites, which are suggested for development on concession terms, for the sake of signing a contract on geological prospecting work and preliminary surveying. No concession operator has been found yet.
The list of concession sites includes a total of 15 locations. A deposit of oil shale named Turovskoye and located in Stolin District and Zhitkovichi District was the last site added to the list. “Unfortunately, there is no concession holder for now. We've come up with concession offers for the four sites the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Ministry is responsible for. I think a tender will be held in late 2018 or early 2019,” said the ministry's representative.
“In addition to gold we've found occurrences of copper and platinum. Platinum has been found in the Zuberovo site. There are prospects for finding uranium ore. The locations were detected 20 years ago but further work was suspended due to the lack of solid economic justification,” noted Vasily Kolb.
