Stragari mine, Serbia

The Stragari mine at Stragari, Serbia, in what was then Yugoslavia, worked a chrysotile deposit that the U.S. Bureau of Mines' Minerals Yearbook placed "60 miles south of Belgrade."^1,2 In 1952 W. B. Millar, a consulting geologist writing in Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, described "an open-cut about 70 m long and 30 m wide with development going on below the quarry floor by means of an adit."¹ He wrote that shearing had turned the chrysotile into "greenish-gray leathery asbestos sheets so tough and compacted that no mechanical method has yet succeeded in freeing the fibre for normal use," that "a mill to handle 340 tons of ore per day is planned," and that more development "would give several million tons of ore reserves."¹ The yearbook for 1954, drawing on Mineral Trade Notes, said that since World War II the Yugoslav Government had "stimulated development of several asbestos deposits, the most important of which is the Stragari."⁸

The yearbook for 1961 reported plans "to increase asbestos output at the Stragari mine ... from 6,000 to 15,000 tons per year by 1965," and ore reserves of "5 million tons."² In 1975, it said, ore from the mine of Stragari Asbest "was tested in the laboratories of the Mining Institute in Zemun," new fiber recovery technology was being installed, and "design production capacity is 5,000 tons of fiber per year."³ Asbestos reported in 1977, citing Mining Engineering, and again in 1978 that "a 15,000-tons-per-year mill" was planned after successful testing of the ore.^4,5

The yearbook for 1980 reported that KHD Humboldt Wedag AG of West Germany had the contract to supply equipment "for improvements at the Stragari-Azbest asbestos mine of Kolubara, Serbia," and that ore "from the open pit mine" would be milled in a wet process plant expected to "increase fiber yield by 6% to 7%."^6,7 In 1981 Asbestos reported that the Stragari Mining & Industrial Combine had begun an expansion "at the Kolubara asbestos mine and plant located near Kragujevac," to enlarge its asbestos board factory and build an asbestos paper plant, after which "production capacity will quadruple to 15,000 tons of material per year."⁹

The documents report this mine producing asbestos fiber for sale.²

Output the documents report

Figures as printed, in the units each document uses (short tons before about 1990, metric tons after, in most U.S. chapters). Some are a year's output, some a daily rate or a capacity, some a company's total rather than this mine's alone; the statement for that year below says which.

Year by year

Every statement about this mine in the documents, in each document's own words, by the year it is about.

1952

• Description: “a deposit of greenish-gray leathery asbestos sheets so tough ... that no mechanical method has yet succeeded in freeing the fibre”, said by W. B. Millar, Consulting Geologist, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 8¹
• Reserves: “a more thoro mine development program would give several million tons of ore reserves”, said by W. B. Millar, Consulting Geologist, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 10¹
• Fiber: “chrysotile”, said by W. B. Millar, Consulting Geologist, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 8¹
• Mill: “a mill to handle 340 tons of ore per day is planned”, said by W. B. Millar, Consulting Geologist, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 10¹
• Description: “an open-cut about 70 m long and 30 m wide with development going on below the quarry floor by means of an adit”, said by W. B. Millar, Consulting Geologist, as reported by Asbestos (magazine), p. 10¹

1954

• Description: “several asbestos deposits, the most important of which is the Stragari”, as reported by Bureau of Mines, Mineral Trade Notes, p. 10⁸

1961

• Reserves: “Ore reserves were 5 million tons”, p. 10²
• Output: “Plans were reported to increase asbestos output at the Stragari mine ... from 6,000 to 15,000 tons per year by 1965”, p. 10²
• Buyers: “Four-fifths of the production was being exported to the United States”, p. 10²

1975

• Mill: “Design production capacity is 5,000 tons of fiber per year” (Stragari Asbest), p. 10³
• Mill: “The new fiber recovery technology developed is being installed and should be in use in 1976” (Stragari Asbest), p. 10³
• Exploration: “Ore from the Stragari mine ... was tested in the laboratories of the Mining Institute in Zemun” (Stragari Asbest), p. 10³

1977

• Mill: “after successful testing of ore from the Stragari Asbest Mine at Stragari, Serbia, a 15,000-tons-per-year mill has been planned”, as reported by Mining Engineering, p. 44⁴

1978

• Mill: “A 15,000-tons-per-year mill is in the offing, following successful testing of ore at the Stragari Asbest Mine”, p. 55⁵

1980

• Mill: “Invest Import, Belgrade, has awarded KHD Humboldt Wedag AG, Cologne, a contract to supply equipment for an asbestos ore preparation plant in the Yugoslav Stragari” (Invest Import), as reported by Mining Journal, p. 38⁶
• Mill: “KHD Humboldt Wedag AG has the contract to supply the equipment for improvements at the Stragari-Azbest asbestos mine” (Stragari-Azbest), p. 8⁷
• Mill: “milled in a wet process plant reportedly environmentally safe that will increase fiber yield by 6% to 7%”, p. 8⁷
• Description: “open pit mine”, p. 8⁷

1982

• Mill: “has undertaken an expansion program at the Kolubara asbestos mine and plant located near Kragujevac; production capacity will quadruple to 15,000 tons of material per year” (The Stragari Mining & Industrial Combine), p. 38⁹

Other names

Documents call this mine “Stragari mine”, “Stragari”, “Stragari-Azbest asbestos mine”, “Kolubara asbestos mine and plant”.

References

1. Asbestos Magazine, 1952, September 1952 (September 1, 1952), pp. 8, 10.
2. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1961 (January 1, 1962), p. 10.
3. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1975 (January 1, 1976), p. 10.
4. Asbestos Magazine, 1977, December 1977 (December 1, 1977), p. 44.
5. Asbestos Magazine, 1978, December 1978 (December 1, 1978), p. 55.
6. Asbestos Magazine, 1981, January 1981 (January 1, 1981), p. 38.
7. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1980 (January 1, 1981), p. 8.
8. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1954 (January 1, 1955), p. 10.
9. Asbestos Magazine, 1981, March 1981 (March 1, 1981), p. 38.