Rio Tinto Remains Committed to Mining Serbian Lithium

Rio Tinto's Information Center, Gornje Nedeljice(BETAPHOTO/MILAN TIMOTIC/DS)

Mining company Rio Tinto has announced that it remains committed to developing its project in the Jadar river valley, which they see as one of the most promising and best explored lithium deposits in Europe. The project, they say, can ensure a significant boost to Serbia’s economy while safeguarding the environment and placing Serbia on the map of the global energy transition.

The company’s press release went on to say that numerous steps await in the development of Project Jadar, including completing the legal framework, updating the environmental impact study, public inspection and obtaining the necessary permits.

In the immediate future, the company will be focusing on the environmental impact study. This, they say, “will offer the opportunity to, via a transparent and inclusive process including a public debate in keeping with Serbian law, submit and present to the relevant institutions, solutions which will ensure that the project is actualized safely and according to the highest Serbian and European Union environmental protection standards.”

Rio Tinto insisted that it respects the Serbian public’s right to lawfully and peacefully protest lithium mining, but also condemned any form of violence or discrimination.

On Dec. 17, while Rio Tinto was hosting a holiday press junket at Belgrade’s Hilton Hotel, activists of the We Won’t Give Up Jadar movement along with members of the general public and opposition MPs entered the premises to deliver the message that the company is not welcome in Serbia.