Serbia: The battle against the gold mine on Homolje

The citizens’ association “Guardians of Homolje” announced that it has started a “fight” against the exploration carried out by the company Dundee Precious Metals and the announced gold mine in that part of Serbia, in which they will cooperate with experts in the fields of chemistry and hydrogeology.

Activist Ivan Milosavljević Buki states for the Mašina portal that “resistance to mining research and the opening of new mines in the area of Homolje has been going on for two years,” and that Dundee has built almost 40 exploratory wells since April 2023.

“Mining research and the announcement of the opening of a gold mine are in some places only a kilometer away from the established internationally important areas for nature, the future “NATURA 2.000” areas (Veliki krš and Stol, Homolje and Kučaj – Beljanica). The consequences would be visible in all three, which are already threatened by the existing mines in the vicinity of Bor and Majdanpek”, assesses the “Right to Water” initiative.

Serbian activists were invited to the gathering held in August by Slavica Mošić, a member of the “Guardian of Homolje”, who stated that after the formation of the exploratory wells, there was heavy metal pollution in the drinking water catchment.

“We did analyzes in the period of the previous heavy rains, when the Mlava river became muddy. At the same time, that catchment became cloudy again and was gray in color. At the same time, we found an increased presence of heavy metals, especially arsenic – which had double the permitted values - and aluminum, which was several times higher than the permitted values”.

Milosavljević adds that elevated iron values were also determined.

According to her, exploratory wells are formed in igneous rocks, which are impermeable to water, so the problem is not that the wells are about 500 meters deep and pass through different layers of the terrain, but that they are inadequately rehabilitated, “so surface water pollution occurs”.

Polluted waters, Milosavljević claims, end up in the waters of the Crna reka and its tributaries, which are connected to the spring of the Mlava. It is similar with Tisnica.

“What we know as Mlava is created when the water from the spring of Mlava joins with Tisnica. So that everything that flows from Čok Rakita can easily end up in Mlava,” Milosavljević specifies.