Serbia set to ok lithium exploitation

Serbia has said it is looking to give global mining group Rio Tinto the go ahead to create Europe’s largest lithium mine two years after Belgrade shelved the project following huge environmental protests.  

President Aleksandar Vucic told UK daily the Financial Times that “new guarantees” from the British-Australian company and the EU appear to consider Serbia’s earlier concerns over whether the company would include necessary environmental standards at the site in Jadar, north-west Serbia.

Lithium, which is considered to be a critical material by the EU and the US, is used in batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and mobile devices.  

In 2022, Belgrade canceled the licenses for the USD 2.4bn (EUR 2.24bn) project following environmental protests. From 2021-22, Serbian environmentalists collected over 30,000 signatures in a petition demanding that MPs stop lithium exploration in the country.

Gov’t appears to u-turn on position earlier in year

Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic told channel station RTS in February that “We need to discuss the Jadar lithium mining project in Serbia and see both the technical and environmental protection studies to understand how we can use our mineral wealth.” She added that the government, the president and herself as the competent minister agree on this.

“I think we need to have the opportunity to see relevant, technical and environmental protection studies that the public hasn’t seen. Experts, first of all, should first participate in such a dialogue, to see the best way in which we can use our resources. I am not just referring to the ‘Jadar’ project, I am referring to all our mineral resources,” the minister said.

Djedovic Handanovic added that “there is absolutely no plan” for the exploitation and extraction of minerals in the Avala and Kosmaj hills, near the Serbian capital of Belgrade.

Rio Tinto argues on the company’s website that as “a vital component for clean technologies such as electric vehicles and battery storage, lithium will play an essential role in the transition to a low carbon economy.

“The scale and high-grade nature of the Jadar deposit provides the potential for a mine to supply lithium products into the electric vehicle value chain for decades, positioning Serbia as the European hub for green energy. Double digit demand growth is forecast for lithium over the next decade,” the mining company adds.