FIAA: Dr. Acar, it’s been more than two years since you started leading Albchrome in Albania. Could you share some insights about your work in the mining industry in Albania? How does it differ from your previous experiences in Türkiye or elsewhere?
Dr. Acar: It is a well-known fact that Albania is located within the world-class mineralization belt, the so-called “Tethyan Belt,” which extends more than 10,000 km from Eastern Europe through Türkiye and across Asia. Thanks to this rich geological occurrence, Albania has significant mineral potential, particularly in terms of chrome and nickel, along with some minor scale base metal mineralization’s, such as copper. Small to medium-scale chrome resources have been exploited for more than 75 years in the region. Nearly half of the ore production has been converted into a semi-end product, ferrochrome, locally for over 40 years, serving the global stainless-steel industry and adding value to the Albanian economy.
However, despite the high quality of the chrome ore and concentrate produced in Albania, except for a few mid-size mines, the mineral occurrences are generally small and fractured, limiting the potential for large and economic resource development. This situation has historically led to the operation of numerous small-scale chrome mines by local miners with limited exploration investment, resulting in many unknowns about the sustainability of the mining operation. This has led to occupational safety and environmental concerns being considered lower priorities. As Yıldırım Group, being a responsible mining company, we aim to raise safety and environmental standards to the highest level by applying the most recent technologies in our mines and smelting facilities. Moreover, we are conducting extensive geological prospection studies across the region to identify economic chrome resources.
Albania also possesses significant nickel laterite resources of moderate quality. Studies have identified more than 300 million tons of nickel ore in the south-eastern parts of Albania. Although there are a number of active nickel licenses, only a few are in operation, supplying nickel ore for the ferronickel plants in Kosovo and North Macedonia. The rest are not in production due to economic considerations, as the ore quality does not support transportation over long distances. In my opinion, developing a large-scale nickel project that converts the resources into intermediate products in an environmentally friendly process to serve the developing battery industry should be considered to utilize the existing nickel potential and benefit Albania’s economy.
In terms of business flow, the main difference between Albania and other developing countries is that the licensing and permitting processes here are relatively more time-consuming and sometimes conflicting. For example, a small building’s construction permit may need to be approved by the Council of Ministers. Moreover, even when all necessary studies are completed and documented, permitting processes that require approval from several ministries and the municipality take considerable time and effort. These processes cause significant delays at every stage of mining investment, from licensing applications and exploration to exploitation. Given this situation, I believe that legal regulations should be reviewed to simplify the processes and resolve the conflicts that prevent mining investors from proceeding more efficiently and make Albania an even more attractive country for FDI.
Albania has a history of success in chromite and ferrochrome production for decades. Its chromite is recognized as the finest quality in the world due to its high chrome to iron ratio. What is Albchrome’s experience in extracting chromium from Albanian chromite and with its trading?
The chrome ore and concentrate in Albania are generally considered high quality, thanks to their high chrome and low iron contents, similar to the chromes from Kazakhstan and Türkiye. The low iron content enables our smelters to produce higher-grade ferrochrome, which is more desirable in the stainless-steel industry for both technical and economic reasons. This helps us differentiate our product from the low-quality ferrochrome produced using South African ore and maintain a competitive market advantage, commanding a premium for our ferrochrome product. We primarily supply our customers in Europe, America, and Japan, who place a higher emphasis on quality, and we are proud to export “Made in Albania” products to these markets.
One of our main disadvantages in Albania is the highly volatile and expensive electricity prices. As ferrochrome production is an energy-intensive process, electricity cost is one of our main cost items. Unpredictable electric prices in the liberal market make it difficult to maintain sustainable production. Despite our higher costs, we can still maintain our competitive advantage and keep our profitability positive thanks to ore quality. Moreover, we are conducting studies to develop our own green energy projects to supply our plants with affordable green energy, which will also help us reduce our carbon footprint, be sustainable, and produce green ferrochrome.
Recently, your company inaugurated new environmental and social investments in the Elbasan ferrochrome plant. Why did you decide to make these investments, and why do you believe companies should invest in becoming more socially responsible?
As a mining and metal company, we are aware of our responsibility to our people, environment, local communities, and regional economy. We believe that a responsible mining and metal corporation should create environmental and social value as well as commercial value to achieve sustainable growth. Therefore, operating with the motto “people first,” we believe that we should provide safe and comfortable standards in the workplace for the health and social welfare of our employees. This is why we started our social investments as soon as we took over the company.
One of our primary goals is to mitigate the environmental impact of our operations to the minimum level and align with European Standards. We achieved this goal with our Dedusting System investment in Elbasan. In the coming years, Albania will gradually harmonize its laws with Europe, and we believe we are a catalyst for this change. In this context, we are confident that all industrial companies will gradually bring their standards to this level. We are proud to be pioneers in this area.
What are some of the best practices that the Yildirim Group brings to Albania, and what are some of the plans for the future of the company in Albania that you can share with us in this interview?
In the field of mining, we intend to elevate mining standards to advanced levels. As a company aware of the challenges of underground mining and having carried out similar works in different countries such as Kazakhstan and Türkiye, we are striving to bring the same standards here. Therefore, we have made significant investments in the Bulqiza region concerning safety, health, and the environment.
With these investments, we are trying to minimize the risk of accidents in the workplace. We are aware that a zero-accident target in mining is possible; we know that all accidents can be prevented when all safety methods are meticulously applied. Our goal is to provide a safe working environment underground to increase the motivation of our workers and encourage them to work comfortably while ensuring that they will return home safely.
We were delighted to welcome you last year in FIAA. What are some of your expectations regarding Albchrome’s membership in our organization?
Your long experience lobbying for the interests of foreign businesses in Albania and the strong network you have already established is always an added value in our collaboration.
Your association with a large number of members in sectors similar to ours helps a lot to contribute to lawmaking, regulations, and protecting and moving forward our sectors. Also, strong networking and synergy between foreign investments in Albania are significant inputs in the further development and integration of the country into the European Union and more experienced economies, sharing know-how, and bringing more sustainable working cultures to Albanian companies.
In your LinkedIn profile, you describe yourself as a strong professional with a Ph.D. degree from Middle East Technical University and the University of Utah. You have various international publications and patents in minerals science. What are some of your research achievements, and what are some advantages that your distinguished researcher profile adds to your role as General Manager?
I strongly believe that success in business life can only be achieved with a devoted team that is highly motivated and hardworking to create value and touch people’s lives. I feel lucky to have always worked with teammates with these characteristics. Therefore, I owe the success we have achieved so far to our devoted teammates and our upper managers and investors who believed in and supported us under all circumstances.
This dedication helped us improve our operations in many aspects, such as setting efficient quality control systems, high health, safety, and environmental HESSR standards, and optimizing production processes to remain sustainably competitive in the challenging ferroalloy market.
Moreover, to develop new technologies and generate know-how, we set up an R&D Center in Türkiye in 2019. Several achievements have been made in terms of process optimization, product development, and cost reduction through this center. One of these achievements is developing a patented chrome enrichment process that enables the utilization of low-grade chrome ores and tailings in a highly efficient and cost-effective manner. We established a facility in Türkiye that perhaps produces the most economical chrome concentrate in the world.
In coordination with our R&D Center in Türkiye, we are conducting similar R&D studies to develop the mining and metals industry with innovative approaches in Albania as well. The researcher profile, equipped with innovation and creativity skills, helps significantly in managerial roles, especially in decision-making and problem-solving.
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