In 2022, Belgrade revoked licences for Rio’s $2.4 billion
Jadar project after massive environmental protests. If
completed, the project could supply 90% of Europe’s current
lithium needs and help to make the company a leading lithium
producer.
In 2021 and 2022 Serbian environmentalists collected 30,000
signatures in a petition demanding that parliament enact
legislation to halt lithium exploration in the country.
Protests have already broken out in Serbia as news of the latest development on the lithium project got around. The government has the backing of the constitutional court which ruled that the annulment of the Rio Tinto permit in 2022 was unlawful.
The government compared the lithium project to oil, saying it will generate 20,000 jobs and contribute 16% of the GDP. But opposition leaders say oil is exploited in most countries by government owned entities. In the case of Serbia’s lithium, the reserves will be exploited by a private foreign company.
Source link : https://stratnewsglobal.com/europe/serbia-nod-for-rio-tinto-proposal-to-develop-europes-largest-lithium-mine/
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Publish date : 2024-07-16 07:10:27
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