Bulgarian mineral extraction & processing company Kaolin opened a BGL 5.0 million (US$3.2M) silica sand processing plant at Devnya, near the Black Sea port of Varna on 3 May 2006, the company said. "The capacity of the plant is 300,000/t silica sand annually, which will be used for the production of various types of glass", Kaolin said in a statement. Production will be sold on the domestic market & exported via the port of Varna. The plant will employ between 50 & 60. The company plans to further increase the capacity of the silica sand plant & start processing other industrial minerals there, according to the statement. In 2004 the company bought silica sand producer Srbokvarc in Bulgaria's western neighbour Serbia. Srbokvarc operates one of the largest silica sand deposits in the Balkans. Kaolin also has a joint venture with Serbian company Kopovi Ub, a ball clay and silica sand producer near the Serbian capital Belgrade, and a Turkish subsidiary, Kaolin Endustriyel Mineraller.
