Coal Mining Dominates Maritsa Iztok Mines, Minister Highlights Potential of Rare Earths

Veneta Litkova, Delyan Petrishki

Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov at Financing the Stone roundtable at the Grand Hotel Millennium, Sofia, June 24, 2025 (BTA photo: Nikola Uzunov)

Sofia,

24.06.2025 16:23

(BTA)

Coal mining continues to be the main line of business of the state-owned company Mini Maritsa Iztok mining complex but rare earths offer a new potential for the company, said Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov during a roundtable discussion, Financing the Stone, held at the Grand Hotel Millennium Sofia on Tuesday.

“On my visit to Mini Maritsa Iztok on Friday, including the Maritsa Iztok 2 Thermal Power Plant, I saw the vast quantities of clays and other earth masses extracted from depths of 70 meters before reaching the coal layers. It is hard to believe there aren’t other underground resources in these layers,” said Minister Stankov.

Work is already underway on projects to utilize the different types of extracted clay, which could lead to the development of additional economic activities and new jobs in the region, Stankov added.

Responding to a BTA question about the potential for ore enrichment, Minister Stankov explained that it is common for metallic mineral resources to leave Bulgaria and Europe due to chemical extraction methods that are often prohibited within the EU. Raw metals are typically shipped to Africa for enrichment and then re-imported to Europe.

Leonid Ganozliev, head of the investment department at Mini Maritsa Iztok noted that past geological studies have identified the presence of elements such as neodymium, cerium, lanthanum, and yttrium. These were found in isolated geological samples, and their presence and economic potential have not been thoroughly explored, as the focus had been on coal mining.

Ganozliev added that many countries are now re-evaluating closed deposits, processed materials, and mining waste in search of concentrations of rare earth and critical elements.

Rare earth and critical minerals are also present in mine water. In these waters, where intense oxidation processes occur, elements such as nickel, molybdenum, vanadium, cobalt, beryllium, gallium, yttrium, iodine, and germanium have been found. High levels of lithium have also been detected in the samples.

/NF/