europe: kosovo: Independent Commission for Mines and Minerals

 ICMM building

• Historical background

Independent Commission for Mines and Minerals has been established in 2001 as Directorate of Mines and Minerals, an UNMIK – EU reserved power authority responsible for monitoring the mining activities in the territory of Kosovo. On 21 January 2005 under the UNMIK Regulation 2005/2 was named Independent Commission for Mines and Minerals. This Regulation, on 13 June 2008 was amended into a Law No. 03/ L-081.

• Objectives

ICMM regulates and oversees:

• Proper exploration and use of mineral resources in Kosovo in accordance with the law in power;
• Optimum use of mineral resources in all activities of mines exploitation and reduce such impacts in the environment;
• Implementation of international standards on mining activities in mines and quarries;
• Safety during mineral extraction and in the processing facilities in accordance with the law in power and with necessary safety standards; and
• Overall compliance of activities on the mines exploitation with Licence conditions, licence agreements and other authorization instruments.

Commission, in accordance with the law in power, is responsible for the following activities:

• Issue, transfer, cancel and withdraw permits and exploration and mining licences;
• Issue, transfer, cancel and withdraw permits and licences pertaining to the use of explosives in mining activities;
• Perform investigations pertaining to accidents in mines and quarries and necessary actions as a consequence of this;
• Create and maintain a database on the mineral titles and the rights for the mines exploitation; and
• Provide technical assistance to the Government on all issues pertaining to mines and minerals in Kosovo.

The ICMM has as its brief to issue and administer all mining related permits and licences, to carry out technical supervision of mining and plant installations and to implement legal, safety and health regulations at the working sites. In order to advise investors, the ICMM carries out geological resource estimations, advises investors on potential areas of interest and provides service orientated information on any relevant items of interest in the mining world.
The ICMM mission is the efficient, safe and sustainable development of Kosovo’s resources, and to do this must consider following aspects:

• Ensuring the optimal usage of resources and collection of revenues in order to protect the interests of the country’s population and provide for economic development – mining plans must be set up and adhered to within the framework of legal requirements
• Set up a geo-information structure in order to provide for immediate, world-wide transparent information flow to enable on-the-spot decision making
• Observe market forces and adapt to changing trends to ensure that projects are developed as the market dictates. Redundant projects must be shelved until they become viable.

Coordinate with other institutions to ensure that priorities are observed and that forward planning is implemented for the best development of the country’s resources. Ensure that other institutions do not cut off mining reserves by construction of services over existing deposits.

• Structure of ICMM

 The ICMM is organized in management units as follows:

• Governing Board (issues licenses and permits and administers the ICMM)
• Directorate (responsible to the Board for daily affairs and administration)
• Inspectorate (safety at work, adherence to applicable laws and rules)
• Geology (tasks of a Geological Survey, archive, field work, collection of data)
• Data input and GIS (capture, storage and provision of geo-scientific data)
• Finance(revenue collection, royalties calculation, budgets)
• Legal Office (Legal procedures and licences)
• Administration (administrative support to the departments)
• Procurement (procurement of goods and services for ICMM)
• IT (Information Technology)

• Projects

To ensure that Kosovo’s mineral potential is adequately promoted and developed, the ICMM has undertaken numerous technical programs, where most important are viewed to be:

•  GeoScientific Maps
•  Explosives Security System
•  Kosovo Quarry Plan
•  Geochemical Survey
•  Airborne Geophysical Survey
•  Geographical Information System

Geoscientific Map1

Geoscientific Map2

Geoscientific Map3

Explosives Security System 1

Explosives Security System 2

Kosovo Quarry Plan 1

Kosovo Quarry Plan 2

Geochemical Survey 1

Geochemical Survey 2

Airborne Geophysical Survey 1

Airborne Geophysical Survey 2

Geographical Information System

• Future challenges      

GEOLOGICAL prospectivity in Kosovo should be viewed as being extremely high. Although there is a mining history that dates back to pre-Roman times, the recent technological advances in mineral exploration have not been systematically applied to Kosovo. The use of remote sensing and geophysical prospecting techniques aimed at discovering buried ore deposits have yet to be applied.
There is no systematic geochemical survey data (soils, stream sediments) available, and drilling records were lost during the 1999 conflict. The complex geological history of Kosovo, lying athwart a major geological suture between the Drina and Vardar Zones, coupled with the lack of systematic mineral exploration activity (such as at the five Trepca mines where the full extent of the mineralisation has not been tested by drilling), indicate high prospectivity. The application of systematic exploration programmes in the new climate of direct foreign investment from the global mining sector should yield exploration successes to rival those of neighbouring countries.

Map of Minerals of Kosovo

Proven exploration potentials exist for lignite, lead, zinc, silver, nickel, chromium, bauxite, magnesite, and construction minerals (hard rock, gravel, sand, clay). Several indications of precious metals (gold and platinum) were detected in rivers and as accompanying metals in other ores (chromite and base metals).
The Ministry of Energy and Mining (MEM) – www.ks-gov.net/mem – was established in December 2004 as a part of the transfer of competencies from UNMIK to PISG, and is responsible for: the preparation and implementation of policies, strategy, legislation, and determination of general investment conditions. This is in order to ensure the best possible coalescence of economic, social and environmental values.
With the support of a World Bank grant, the development of a comprehensive, strategic, long-term sector plan, the Kosovo Mining Development Strategy, is under way. This is a key step towards improving sector performance and making mining a source of economic growth.
The mining development strategy ensures:

• Strengthening of institutions and capacity building on mining-related issues, in order to increase the competitiveness of the industry to support commercialisation of SOEs and attract quality private investors who will provide both short-term and long-term benefits to Kosovo.
• Preparation of appropriate sector regulations based on best mining practice to support implementation of the new law (UNMIK Regulation 2005/2, Law No. 03/ L-081 and UNMIK Regulation 2003/3).
• Employment of data regarding mines, mineral processing plants, and undeveloped mineral resources.
• Awareness of greenfield exploration opportunities in addition to potential within existing mines and metallurgical plants.
• Assessment of the long-run economic outlook and potential economic contribution of sites of commercial interest.
• Vision-building in support of long-range development plans for the sector.
• Development of a set of action priorities, taking into account the time required to reestablish operations and expected costs and benefits.
• Preparation of policy guidance and that benefits reach those most affected by mineral development.
• An assessment of required actions on mining operations of POEs and SOEs, and other operations of interest and as identified by the MEM and the KTA.
• A strategic framework for lignite mining to guide future power generation projects under a progressive economic, social, and environmental framework.
• Technical assistance to improve sub-sector performance by creating licensed SMEs having the capacity to adhere to obligations and regulations.
• The formalisation of unlicensed mining operations, and the strengthening of the SMEs in the sector.
• Partners

ICMM has many business partners, international and local as:

BEAK www.beak.de
Ministry of Energy and Mines www.ks-gov.net/mem
Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning www.ks-gov.net/mmph
Kosovo Property Agency www.kpaonline.org

• Key Figures

Since the establishment, Directorate of Mines and Minerals, respectively Independent Commission for Mines and Minerals, has grown on yearly bases with the budget and also with staff. On the tables below are shown the budget and growth of staff between the year 2002-2009.

ICMM Budget

ICMM Staff

• Social Programs        

According to the STM 2007 Progress Report, the government approved the Youth Employment Action Plan in October 2006 to employ the 200,000 young persons expected to be arriving on the market in the next five years. The revitalization of the domestic mining industry may significantly improve the employment prospects of the increasing number of unemployed in Kosovo.

The mineral industry is of special importance for the economic and social development of Kosovo. The sector has the potential to provide economic benefits for the country through production and processing of minerals for export, which will not only provide employment but also have a positive impact on the country’s trade balance. The mining sector will also play a key role in supplying raw materials to the energy sector, which in turn will ensure a reliable energy supply for both domestic and business users.