Montenegro’s mineral industry overview

Montenegro is a European Union (EU) candidate located in the western Balkan Peninsula. It borders Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Serbia. The country produced a limited number of mineral commodities, none of which was regionally or globally significant, but it has the potential to become a regionally important coal and hydrocarbon producer.

Montenegro’s mineral industry includes the mining and processing of bauxite, industrial minerals, and lignite coal. Metal production includes alumina refining, primary aluminum smelting, and steelmaking. The country’s mineral industry underwent a recovery in 2014 after its largest mineral company and sole aluminum producer, Kombinat Aluminijuma Podgorica (KAP), resumed production and its leading bauxite producer, Rudnici Boksita, increased its output. Iron and steel production continued to increase as Montenegro’s primary iron and steel company Toscelik Niksic continued its plant modernization program.

Montenegro’s first tender for offshore hydrocarbon exploration and extraction received bids from foreign companies for all blocks that were offered for concession in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Adriatic Sea.