In the late 1960s and early 1970s, larger mines were built in Përrenjas, which mainly supplied the steelworks in Elbasan.[6] The town was founded in 1953 as accommodation for the residents of the Pishkash mine to the northwest and was named after the nearby village.[5] Iron and nickel were mined in open-cast and underground mines, some of which was also processed on site.[2][7] Since the end of the 1990s, most mining activities have been discontinued, but chromium is still to be mined in cooperation with an Italian company.[8][9]