Mining by country

Mining in Bulgaria

What Bulgaria mines: bismuth (0.3% of world output, #6).

Mineral rents0.6%of GDP, 2021. Higher than 75% of countries.
Ores and metals15%of merchandise exports, 2025.
Governance, World Bank WGI 2025
  • Rule of law-0.05above 51% of countries
  • Political stability+0.24above 54% of countries
  • Regulatory quality+0.34above 66% of countries
  • Control of corruption-0.29above 45% of countries
Estimates from −2.5 to +2.5; the bar sits at the country's score.

Mining in Bulgaria at a glance

First recorded mining
Late Eneolithic (Ai Bunar copper mine, southern Bulgaria). Penn Museum describes Ai Bunar as systematically excavated, dated to the final Eneolithic phase in the south-east Balkans, slightly later than Rudna Glava in Serbia. Source: Penn Museum
Mining law
Subsurface Resources Act (SG No. 19/2011) and Concessions Act (SG No. 103/2017). The Law for the Underground Resources was amended in 2017 to require more transparent exploration permit and concession procedures. Source: USGS
Main mines
Chelopech copper-gold mine (about 70 km east of Sofia), Krumovgrad (Ada Tepe) gold mine, Pirdop copper smelter site Source: USGS

Official sitesMining ministry

Mining employment from the ILO usually counts all of mining and quarrying, often with oil and gas; national shares of GDP and exports are as each source defines them.

Share of world mine production

MineralWorld shareWorld rankYear
Bismuth0.3%62025

Bismuth mining in Bulgaria

Bulgaria mined 0.3% of the world's bismuth in 2025, ranking #6 (USGS). Every bismuth mine and project in Bulgaria.

History of mining in Bulgaria

What the ground holds. copper, gold, silver, lead, zinc, manganese, barite, vermiculite, gypsum, salt, clay, limestone, lignite, tellurium and cadmium. Source: USGS

How prospectors changed the worldThe full mining timeline

By mineral

Bismuth mines

Mining elsewhere in Europe

RussiaSpainSwedenGermanyNorwayPolandAustriaPortugalFranceUkraine

World shares: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries, latest year per mineral. Mineral rents, exports and governance: World Bank WDI and WGI. Trade: CEPII BACI. Projects: listed companies' announcements.

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Stories from Bulgaria and its minerals

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: The Big Hole by Rudolph Botha, CC BY-SA 3.0.