Zombie mines are coming back to life on soaring metals prices

A silver mine in Bosnia and Herzegovina that sat derelict through the years of civil strife that gripped the region from the early 1990s may soon be taken out of mothballs to benefit from an optimistic price outlook.

Adriatic Metals Plc’s Vares project could resume production by the end of 2022 following a hiatus of more than three decades, according to Chief Executive Officer Paul Cronin. It’s part of a nascent trend toward restarting so-called “zombie” mines — operations which have been shuttered for reasons varying from weak prices to owner bankruptcy or political unrest.

“Some of these old mining assets around the world that have been discarded and dumped are an eyesore — they’re a problem. They create potential environmental issues that need to be resolved,” Adriatic’s Cronin, a former investment banker, said in a phone interview. “If we can convert the ‘zombie’ into something that adds value, that resolves some of those issues and shareholders can get a return from them, that’s great.”