History

The copper production plant was built near the town of Pirdop in the period 1955-1958 with four main production units: Smelter, Refinery, Acid Plant and Precious and Rare Metal Production. On November 21, 1958 the first anode copper was produced, and on December 6 of the same year the plant was officially opened.

In September 1997, the international company Union Miniere headquartered in Brussels, Belgium signed a privatization contract with the Bulgarian government, thus acquiring the plant in Pirdop. In April 2005, the Umicore Group’s copper production was differentiated into a separate company – Cumerio, listed on the stock exchange in Brussels.

In April 2008 the Cumerio Group was acquired by Norddeutsche Affinerie AG (NA) after approval by the European Commission at the beginning of the year. The new company became the largest copper producer in Europe and the global leader in copper recycling.

Chronology 

1958

Opening of MDK “Georgi Damyanov”

1963-1966

First Expansion of Facilities

1966

Implementation of the invention of riverside high-density currency in electrolysis

1983-1987

Implementation of the Outokumpu technology

1987

New Smelter

1999-2001

Extended environment protection programe. Remediation of the “Blue Lagoon”

2008

New Refinery

2010

Extension and modernization of Flotation Plant

2017-2018

Raw materials and acid terminals - Port Burgas

2019

Launch of Aurubis Bulgaria 2022 Investment Program