Serbian power utility EPS has opened the tender for geological exploration works for the expansion of the open-pit mine Drmno to a capacity of 12 million tons of coal. This is a continuation of the works and the value is estimated at RSD 151.6 million.

According to the technical documentation, during the exploitation of coal at the Drmno mine in the past few years, numerous technical and technological problems have occurred. This primarily pertains to the increased depth of the occurrence of coal layers, their increased delamination, the nearing of the mine to the Danube the greater water content of the mine levels and the reduced stability of the mine slopes.

The aim of these explorations are to create the necessary conditions for the preparation of the next study of the coal reserves, which will serve for the preparation of the mining project and investment documentation for further work on the mine, the documentation says.