Thousands of people protested on Monday in several Serbian cities against the planned restart of Rio Tinto’s $2.55 billion (2.36 billion euro) lithium mine project in the country over fears its development will damage the environment.
SeeNews.com said rallies were held in Arandjelovac, Sabac, Kraljevo, Ljig, and Barajevo, with protesters demanding a halt to the project.
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At the largest rally, in Sabac, where about 7,000 people gathered, protesters carried signs with a message: “No to Rio Tinto, we want clean air and clean water”.
In recent days, protests were also held in several towns, with more demonstrations scheduled for the coming days.
In a recently published study on the proposed mine, a group of Serbian scientists reportedly said the lithium deposit in the western part of the country was not worth mining in terms of environmental risks. The deposit was the only one in the world where lithium extraction was planned in a populated and fertile agricultural area.
The mining would destroy one of only three water bearing areas in Serbia, the study, financially backed by Serbia’s science ministry, found, SeeNews said.
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By GlobalDataSerbia’s government has repeatedly said the planned mine would be developed following the highest ecological standards. Rio Tinto has yet to submit an environmental impact assessment study for the project.
Earlier this month, Serbia and the European Union (EU) signed a deal to launch a strategic partnership in the fields of sustainable raw materials, battery value chains, and electric vehicles. Lithium is deemed vital for battery production and one of the most critical minerals for the energy transition.
The deal with the EU came after Serbia’s government reinstated permits for Rio Tinto’s lithium borate mine project in the Jadar Valley, two years after it blocked the development due to protests by environmentalists.
Serbia’s president Aleksandar Vucic said in a recent interview the planned mine was projected to produce 58,000 tons of lithium per year, enough for 17% of EV production in Europe or about 1.1m cars, SeeNews said.
Rio discovered the reserve of jadarite, named after the Jadar Valley, in 2004.
