A news agency quoted the CEO of Rio Tinto’s Serbia branch as saying that Rio Tinto will shelve its controversial lithium mine project in Western Serbia.
Mining Group wants to develop A mine near Loznica in the western part of the Jadar Valley Extract lithium used in electric vehicle batteries and borate used in solar panels and wind turbines.
Recent weeks Protesters took to the streets and blocked the road, Asking the authorities to end the project. Before the April elections, this backlash caused political headaches for the ruling coalition loyal to President Alexander Vucic. The company’s $2.4 billion project is part of the Serbian government’s efforts to attract more investment and create economic growth.
Last week Loznica City Council Canceled the mine’s land allocationA Beta News report quoted Rio Sava Exploration CEO Vesna Prodanovic as saying that Rio Tinto will shelve the project. “We hope to have an open dialogue to let residents understand all aspects of our project.
“In such a fierce anti-mining and negative movement, it is extremely difficult to have a reasonable debate on any topic.”
Prodanovic stated that Rio Tinto plans to “reconsider and possibly improve” the technical solutions it hopes to use at the mine. Earlier this year, Rio Tinto stated that any development project will meet all domestic and EU environmental standards. But opponents say this will cause irreparable damage.
Wu Qiqi has repeatedly stated that mining will depend on the results of environmental research and referendum.
With Reuters
