Serbia’s Piskanja boron project has a preliminary economic assessment estimating a post-tax net present value of US$638.8 million at an 8% discount rate and an 89% internal rate of return. Boron One’s assessment estimates initial capital expenditure of US$79.9 million, moving the project into a more investable phase while leaving development decisions ahead.
The project concept envisages a 13-year mine life, with average annual production of approximately 157,600 tonnes of colemanite and 83,800 tonnes of ulexite. It also includes annual production of 25,000 tonnes of boric acid.
The proposed product mix links mining with chemical processing and industrial customers, rather than relying on a single raw-mineral concentrate. It could make Piskanja an integrated mining-and-chemicals development, with the project’s ability to capture value in Serbia depending in part on how much processing takes place there instead of exporting lower-value mineral products.
Boron is used in glass, ceramics, insulation, agriculture and specialised industrial applications. European supply security is an industrial concern as manufacturers seek to diversify from concentrated global sources, making additional regional supply relevant to industrial customers.
The preliminary assessment is not a reserve-backed development decision. The project’s investment case still depends on validation through detailed engineering, metallurgical performance and market studies, as well as product qualification, permitting, infrastructure and financing.
If subsequent technical stages support the assessment’s assumptions, Serbia could add boron to minerals relevant to European industrial supply chains. The project’s next steps would need to establish whether its technical and commercial assumptions can be confirmed and how its processing strategy will work; the assessment itself does not establish that development will proceed.
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