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The silver mine in Bosnia and Herzegovina that was shut down during the years of civil war that has gripped the region since the early 1990s could soon be reopened to benefit from an optimistic price outlook.

Adriatic Metals Plc’s Vares project could resume production by the end of 2022 after a hiatus of more than three decades. It’s part of a nascent trend toward restarting so-called “zombie” mines, operations that have been shut down for reasons ranging from weak prices to owner bankruptcy or political unrest.

Some of these old mining facilities around the world that have been abandoned are a problem. They create potential environmental problems that need to be solved. If you can convert the ‘zombie’ mines into something that adds value, it would solve some of these problems.

Miners from Europe, to Australia and South Africa, are motivated by the rally in commodity prices driven by the global economic recovery and infrastructure spending related to the clean energy transition. Anglo American Platinum Ltd, the world’s largest platinum company has been approached by at least four groups for its Bokoni mine, which is currently idle.

The advantage of recycling old mines, even those that have not been in production for more than 30 years, is that costs can be saved by using existing infrastructure. Vares already had rail and road connections on site, and Adriatic was using some of the former site’s facilities, including power lines. The new technology can also help make closed operations more economically viable. The company is also developing a zinc project in neighboring Serbia.

Panoramic Resources Ltd. and Mincor Resources NL are both restarting nickel operations, after putting them on “care and maintenance” in 2016 in response to weak global prices. At the same time, the Honeymoon uranium mine, which was shut down in 2014 due to weak prices, could be restarted in 12 months.

In Mincor’s case, the revival of its Kambalda mine is supported by a deal with BHP Group’s nearby Nickel West operation, which is enjoying a resurgence amid a surge in demand for the battery metal. Prices have gained about a third over the past year.

So far, it has mostly been smaller mines that have been restarted, which are unlikely to have much impact on the market. Many of these operations are at the high end of the cost curve, which is why they are not in production now. This tells us that they are quite marginal and are the most vulnerable to commodity price movements. Still, with the infrastructure already in place, restarting a mine is a relatively low-risk strategy compared to developing new resources.