Bulgarian mining industry grows by 12 pct in 2015: report

The output of the mining industry in Bulgaria rose by 12 percent year-on-year in 2015 to reach 112.54 million tons, according to a report released Thursday.

"This is a record in the history of mining in Bulgaria," said the annual report issued by the country's Chamber of Mining and Geology.

The extraction of industrial minerals saw an increase of 24 percent, followed by the extraction of building materials, solid fuels and metal ores with 17 percent, 13 percent and four percent respectively, the report said.

Meanwhile, the "champion" of the previous two years, subsector "Extraction of stone tiling materials," suffered a decline of 11.4 percent, the report said, adding that "traditionally" a decline was reported in the extraction of liquid fuels.

On the revenue side, the total value of the output of mining companies amounted to 2.41 billion BGN (some 1.39 billion U.S. dollars), which was 1.1 percent less compared to 2014, the report said.

Production of metal ores and coal contributed most to the total value, with 52 percent and 31 percent respectively.

The mining industry in Bulgaria forms about five percent of country's gross domestic product (GDP) and employs some 24,000 people. Endit