By Fatos Bytyci
STANTERG, Kosovo (Reuters) - Kosovar miner Emin Hasani feels closer to God when he breaks the Ramadan fast 800 metres (2,625 feet) underground.
After a long and sweltering shift down the Trepca mine in Stanterg in northern Kosovo, Hasani checks a clock to know when the sun is setting at the surface and whether the time has come to eat.
Sitting around a small table in a makeshift office in the mine, he and four colleagues pull out dates, yogurt, pickles and cheese that they wash down with sugary black tea.
The men laugh and chat with each other as they share the Iftar meal, eaten after a day of fasting between sunrise and sunset during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
"I am always connected with Allah, in times like now where we are 800 metres underground," Hasani said before reciting his prayers. "The deeper I go, the closer I feel to Allah."
Kosovo is a Muslim-majority country and hundreds of miners in the state-owned lead, zinc and silver mine are observing Ramadan, sometimes enduring temperatures close to 40 degrees Celsius and extreme humidity.
"Fasting is not an issue for us but a lack of clean air, modern equipment, clothes and shoes are a big problem," said shift chief Fehmi Hajredini.
Trepca employed more than 22,000 workers in the 1970s and 80s and accounted for two thirds of Kosovo's gross domestic product (GDP). Now it employs just 3,000 in the mines and other facilities.
Low mineral prices and dwindling production means the company cannot cover operational costs and is seeking government subsidies.
In the city of Mitrovica, a short distance from the mine, Bashkim Kurti, CEO of Trepca, said he was in talks with the government for a 20 million euro ($21.68 million) loan to improve working conditions and increase production.
($1 = 0.9225 euros)