Asarel Medet AD (Bulgaria)

Bulgarian non-ferrous metal ore mining plant Asarel Medet is located near the town of Panagyurishte, some 90 kilometres southeast of the capital Sofia. Asarel Medet's core operation is mining and enrichment of non-ferrous and precious metal ores.
In June 1999, Bulgaria's Privatisation Agency sold 75% of the mine to a management buyout team controlled by Austria's Voest Alpine, for USD 1.43 million. Asarel Invest AD, set up by 3,000 employees of Assarel Medet, also pledged to invest USD 42.7 million in the plant by end-2003. In February 2005, the management-employee buyout company acquired another 5.0% in the mine for USD 95,000. In 2004, the firm invested USD 19 million in developing the pit and its processing facilities.
The company fully utilises its production capacities by mining 32 million tonnes of pit mass and processing 11 million tonnes of ore annually. Out of the processed mass, the company extracts some 40,000 tonnes of copper per year, with the gold and silver deposits being very little. Asarel Medet sells 90% of the extracted copper ore to the Bulgarian unit of the Belgian metals and specialty materials company Cumerio.
In 2008 the off-shore company VA Copper Invest Ltd. acquired 68.58% of the mining company's shares. The remaining 31.42% of the stake are divided among individuals.