The equipment order, comprising a gyratory crusher, semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill and ball mill, will be delivered to the Majdanpek site between 12 and 18 months from now. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.

The DK200 million (US$30 million) order of the FLSmidth crusher and grinding circuit for the frontend of the concentrator comes as Zijin looks to modernise the mine. This will also make it the largest of its three copper concentrators in Serbia.

The Majdanpek open pit, which is located in south-east Serbia, 180 kilometres from Belgrade, is one of Zijin Bor Copper's four mining operations.

Majdanpek uses a traditional flotation process to produce copper concentrates, with a designed mining and processing scale of 10 million tonnes per year, and currently an actual scale of 6Mt/y.

Zijin has a 63% stake in Zijin Bor Copper, with the rest of the shares held by the Serbian government (nearly 37%) and minority shareholders.