Editorial: Primary and secondary resources of the Dinarides-Hellenides

Primary and secondary mineral resources are of strategic importance to the EU economy. The EU has recognized the importance of securing access to mineral resources in the future, meeting the needs of European industry, preserving jobs and ensuring further development. This special issue is dedicated to the mineral potential of South-eastern Europe, more specifically the Adria region (including the countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia), which corresponds to the Dinarides, the northwesternmost Hellenides, and the Vardar zone and has a long history of mining. The six papers, which focus on primary and secondary mineral resources, are the result of the work of a large team involved in the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)funded project rESEErve Mineral potential of the Eastern and South-Eastern Europe region. Mineral potential mapping led to the Western Balkans Mineral Register (publicly available data), which enabled the integration of the region into a pan-European mineral information network and brought it closer to the common mineral market. Primary raw materials data refers to active, abandoned and closed mines that could be of interest for further exploration / exploitation, as well as prospective greenfield sites. The secondary raw material data include information on mine waste sites (including mining, processing and metallurgical wastes). BOROJEVIĆ ŠOŠTARIĆ et al. (2022) assessed the main strengths and challenges of the mineral sector in the Adria region. They present the status of mineral exploration and exploitation, provide a SWOT and Gap analysis, and developed the roadmap for the necessary actions to promote investments in the mineral sector in the Adria region. The potential for discovery and exploitation of primary and secondary mineral resources in Montenegro is demonstrated by RADUSINOVIĆ et al. (2022), who present the main metallic mineral resources (bauxite, lead and zinc), abundant non-metallic mineral resources (industrial minerals and construction materials) and secondary mineral resources (in particular, aluminous red mud and Pb and Zn operational and abandoned mine tailings, bottom and fly ash from thermal power plants, slag from steel production, and marlstone and limestone from hanging walls of coal deposits) and waste rock for aggregate production. SERAFIMOVSKI et al. (2022) present an overview and synthesis of several important polymetallic mineral deposits under exploitation in the Republic of Northern Macedonia (copper mine Buchim, lead-zinc mines Sasa, Zletovo and Toranica) as well as new exploration targets (Plavica, Ilovica, Kadiica, Borov Dol). The authors demonstrate the significant polymetallic ore potential in the Republic of Northern Macedonia. STEINER et al. (2022) have produced a basic characterization of selected tailings of active and abandoned mines in Serbia (Bor, porphyry Cu/Au; Krivelj, porphyry Cu/Au; Blagodat, hydrothermal Pb-Zn; Lece, epithermal Au; Rudnik, hydrothermal/ skarn Pb-Zn) and North Macedonia (Sasa, Pb-Zn; Probištip, PbZn; Bučim, porphyry Cu; Lojane, fault-bound vein-type low-temperature As, Sb, Cr at the contact of rhyolite and serpentinite). Primary and secondary resources of the Dinarides-Hellenides