Bulgaria's Cabinet extended on August 21 the Dzhourkovo lead and zinc mining concession granted to local company Lucky Invest for a further 10 years. The concession expired on June 30.

An annex to the existing concession deal will be signed after Lucky Invest submits a working project for the remainder of the concession to the Economy Ministry. The terms of the concession contract are not likely to be changed, the Government's press service said in a statement.

That would depend on the proposal that the Economy Ministry will make before the annex is inked, the executive director of Lucky Invest majority shareholder Gorubso Lucky, Atanas Marinski, said.

Currently, Lucky Invest pays the state a royalty fee equal to 0.3 per cent of the value of extracted metals.

Earlier this week, Bulgaria's chamber of mining and geology said that some of the local zinc and lead miners may have to shut down their operations due to low international metal prices.

Marinski said Gorubso Lucky will be able to buck the trend as the price dip will not last beyond mid-2009.

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