Fig. 1. Agricultural areas in the Republic of Macedonia.
I.2. Mining industry in Macedonia
Macedonia hosts mineral deposits containing copper, iron, lead, lignite, zinc, and other
minerals. Country produces a number of metals, including copper, ferroalloys, and steel. Other
mineral commodities produced in the country included bentonite, feldspar, gypsum, lignite, lime,
and sand and gravel.The mining and quarrying sector had 4,146 employees in 2013. The mining and
quarrying sector and the manufacturing sector accounted for about 0.9% and 21.5% of the country‘s
total employment (Republic of Macedonia …, 2014). In 2013, the value of Macedonia‘s exported
goods amounted to $4.27 billion; leading mineral-related products included ferronickel (valued at
$337 million, or 7.9% of the country‘s total exports), flat-rolled iron and crude steel ($220 million,
or 5.2%), ferrosilicon ($87 million, or 2.0%), lead ores and concentrates ($76 million, or 1.8%),
copper ores and concentrates ($65 million, or 1.5%), zinc ores and concentrates ($29 million, or
0.7%), and marble and other monumental or building stones ($19 million, or 0.5%).
There are new initiatives for opening of new mines, which provoke a tensive debate in the
wider publicity. Namely, in the South-East part of the country was prepared feasibility study for
opening two new mines Kazandol andIlovica. Based on the possible risks for contamination, NGO
sector and municipalities organized referendum to stop the further activities in this regard.The main
conflict point is the fact that with the proposed technology there will be a risk for contamination of
underground water capacities and agricultural areas.
Specifically, mine, open cast mining activities and minetailings have a serious environmental
impact on soils and water streams. In addition, these areas presents ever erosion problems caused by
wind and waterrun-off, where soil and mine spoil texture, landscape topography and regional and
local meteorological conditions play an important role (Navarro et al., 2008).
The abundance of heavy metals in soil has been increased dramatically by the accelerated rate of
extraction of minerals and fossil fuels and by highly technological industrial processes. Most of the
metals were typically found at very low total concentrations in pristine waters -for this reason they
often are referred to as trace metals. Rapid increases of trace metal concentrations in the
environment are commonly coupled to the development of exploitative technologies (Fig. 2).
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