Bitinckë

Bitinckë is a village in the Korçë County, Albania.^[1] At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Devoll.^[2] The village is at 700–1000 metres elevation above sea level.^[3][4]

Bitinckë
Village
Bitinckë
Coordinates: 40°38′52″N 20°59′1″E
Country	Albania
County	Korçë
Municipality	Devoll
Municipal unit	Bashkia Devoll
Population
• Total	2,000
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)

Bitinckë is the site of an iron-nickel deposit located in one of three such zones in Albania.^[5][6] In addition, Bitinckë is the site of a nickel-silicate deposit, one of two in the country.^[5][6] The mined deposits^[3] are connected by a road to the national road (distance of 1 kilometre).^[5] The ores of nickel in the area have a thickness of 1–25 metres and contain sizable amounts of both iron and cobalt.^[4][3]

During the communist era, a farming cooperative existed in the village and Bitinckë was visited by Albanian president Enver Hoxha in 1957.^[7] Hoxha gave the village a camera to photograph their experiences of the cooperative farm.^[7]

Panorama of Bitinckë showing the iron-nickel deposit (left), the village (centre) and the Devoll plain and Morava mountains (centre background)

Gallery

• 
  Welcome sign into Bitinckë
• 
  Houses in Bitinckë
• 
  Mosque of Bitinckë
• 
  Mosque water fountain
• 
  Primary school "Hasan Bitincka"
• 
  A mule in Bitinckë
• 
  Monument to fallen communist partisans
• 
  Iron-nickel deposit
• 
  Remnants of communist era guardhouse atop mountain

References

1. "Location of Bitinckë". Retrieved 2019-09-17.
2. "Law nr. 115/2014" (PDF) (in Albanian). pp. 6372–6373. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
3. Shallari, S.; Schwartz, C.; Hasko, A.; Morel, J. L. (1998). "Heavy metals in soils and plants of serpentine and industrial sites of Albania". Science of the Total Environment. 209 (2–3): 134. Bibcode:1998ScTEn.209..133S. doi:10.1016/S0048-9697(97)00312-4. PMID 9514035.
4. Çuni, E.; Dodona, E.; Harasani, P.; Sallaku, F.; Shallari, S. (2015). "Assessment of Habitats Area Sand Nickel Hyperaccumulator Plant Alyssum Genus in Albania". Albanian Journal of Agricultural Sciences. 14 (4): 375.
5. Nako, Iljaz; Jorgji, Vasil; Bakiu, Arben (2000). "Albanian mineral industry and its trends in the future". In Michalakopoulos, T.N.; Panagiotou, G.N. (eds.). Mine Planning and Equipment Selection 2000. CRC Press. pp. 462–463. ISBN 9789058091789.
6. Thorne, Robert; Roberts, Stephen; Herrington, Richard (2012). "The formation and evolution of the Bitincke nickel laterite deposit, Albania". Mineralium Deposita. 47 (8): 933. Bibcode:2012MinDe..47..933T. doi:10.1007/s00126-012-0411-x. S2CID 129043314.
7. De Rapper, Gilles; Durand, Anouck (2011). "Family Photographs in Socialist Albania: State Photography and the Private Sphere". In Pistrick, Eckehard; Scaldaferri, Nicola; Schwörer, Gretel (eds.). Audiovisual media and identity issues in Southeastern Europe. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 213. ISBN 9781443831413.