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FT: Serbia will give Rio Tinto company permission to open a lithium mine

2024-06-16 15:45:00, Kosova & Bota CNA
FT: Serbia will give Rio Tinto company permission to open a lithium mine
Photo taken by Reuters

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is preparing to give Rio Tinto the green light to develop Europe's largest lithium mine, two years after Belgrade canceled the project, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

President Vucic told the newspaper that "new guarantees" from the global mining giant and the European Union appeared sufficient to address Serbia's concerns over whether the necessary environmental standards would be met in the Jadar valley in the west of the country.

Rio Tinto said in an emailed statement to Reuters news agency that "we believe the Jadar Project has the potential to be a world-class asset that can serve as a catalyst for the development of a valuable electric car parts chain." In Serbia".

Designated by the European Union and the United States as an essential material, lithium is used to make batteries for electric cars and mobile devices.

"If everything goes well, the mine could open in 2028," President Vu?i? told the Financial Times, adding that the mine is expected to produce 58,000 tons of lithium per year, which would be "enough for 17 percent of the production of of electric cars in Europe, namely about 1.1 million cars".

In 2022, Belgrade revoked licenses for Rio Tinto's $2.4 billion Jadar project following massive environmental protests.

If realized, the project could meet 90 percent of Europe's current lithium needs and help turn the company into a major lithium producer.

In 2021 and 2022, environmental activists in Serbia collected 30,000 signatures on a petition asking parliament to pass legislation to end lithium exploration in the country./ VOA





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