Asarel Medet () is a Bulgarian company extracting and processing

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

. The mine and the processing factory are situated at 11 km to the northwest of the town of

Panagyurishte Panagyurishte (, also transliterated ''Panagjurište'', ) is a town in Pazardzhik Province, Southern Bulgaria, situated in a small valley in the Sredna Gora mountains. It is 91 km east of Sofia, 43 km north of Pazardzhik. The town is ...

in the

Pazardzhik Province Pazardzhik Province ( ''Oblast Pazardzhik'', former name Pazardzhik okrug) is a province in Southern Bulgaria, named after its administrative and industrial centre: the city of Pazardzhik. The territory is that is divided into 12 municipaliti ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. It extracts over 13 million tons of copper ore every year and produces copper concentrate which is sold worldwide, including to the Pirdop copper smelter and refinery at about 25 km north of Panagyurishte. The ore also contains

molybdenum Molybdenum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mo (from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'') and atomic number 42. The name derived from Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lead ores. Molybdenum minerals hav ...

nickel Nickel is a chemical element; it has symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive, but large pieces are slo ...

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

. The number of employees is 1,200, not including 400 hired in its subsidiaries. In addition, the company attracts 6,400

indirect jobs Investments into an industry or project can produce temporary and long-term employment. The resulting jobs are typically categorized as being one of three types. A direct job is employment created to fulfill the demand for a product or service. An ...

in the region and nationwide in different related services. It is the largest employer and taxpayer in Pazardzhik Province. Asarel Medet produces copper concentrate and cathode, mainly used as raw materials for copper smelters and partially for the chemical and ceramics industry. The company produces about 200 thousand tons of natural copper concentrate annually with 25% copper grade.

History

Following the exploration of the Medet copper ore deposit in

Sredna Gora Sredna Gora ( ) is a mountain range in central Bulgaria, situated south of and parallel to the Balkan Mountains and extending from the river Iskar (river), Iskar to the west and the elbow of river Tundzha north of the city of Yambol to the east. ...

mountain range in 1961-1962, the Medet mining and processing complex was inaugurated in 1964, situated at about 1 km north of the village of

Panagyurski kolonii Panagyurski kolonii () is a popular mountain resort with a village status situated 1050 m. above sea level in the Sredna Gora Mountain about 15 km. north of the town of Panagyurishte, Bulgaria. It is typical with its numerous family-owned su ...

. At the time of its inauguration, Medet was the largest open pit copper mine in Europe and the third largest in the world. It was the first to organize open pit mining and processing of copper ores with cut-off grade lower than 0.4 %, which was later widely applied in the industry. The full design mining capacity of 8 million tons of copper ore per year was reached by 1972. In the period 1971-1980, it provided 80-82% of the copper ore mined in Bulgaria. The Medet mining and processing complex served as a basis for designing and building the Kremikovtsi iron ore mine near the capital

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, the Elatsite copper mining and processing complex in

Sofia Province Sofia Province () is a province (''oblast'') of Bulgaria. The province does not include Sofia in its territories, but Sofia remains the seat of its administration. The province borders on the provinces of Pernik, Kyustendil, Blagoevgrad, Paz ...

and the Asarel mining and processing complex some 7 km southwest of Medet. Asarel and Medet were merged in 1986 to establish the Asarel-Medet Technological Mining and Processing Complex. In compliance with the technical project, the Medet mine gradually reduced ore mining after 1984 and its activity was discontinued in early 1994. The Asarel copper mine with 0.45% copper grade started operation in 1976 and the copper processing factory was inaugurated in 1989. In 2004 began the implementation of a large-scale $100 million project with investment in thorough equipment renovation, technology modernisation and personnel development.

Other activities

Since 2012 the company has invested over €75 million in social projects in

Panagyurishte Municipality Panagyurishte Municipality is located in the Pazardzhik Province, western Bulgaria. It is one of the 11 municipalities in the province. Its territory is 598,5 km² being fourth in the province after the municipalities of Velingrad, Batak, Bu ...

, including modernisation of the Hospital of Panagyurishte, construction of the multifunctional Arena Assarel sports hall and the hall hosting the Panagyurishte Treasure in the town's Museum of History.

Citations

External links

* {{coord, 42, 32, 31, N, 24, 9, 6, E, region:BG, display=title Copper mining companies of Bulgaria Panagyurishte Buildings and structures in Pazardzhik Province Bulgarian companies established in 1964