Serbian president pumps brakes on lithium development after EU deal

There will be no lithium mining in Serbia until it can guarantee the activity is safe and environmentally sustainable, the country’s President Aleksandar Vučić, said on Thursday.

Vučić told the Sarajevo Times the country won’t allow lithium mining activity until it can hear from domestic and foreign experts on the subject.

Just last month, Serbia, the European Union, and Germany signed a series of agreements granting EU members and some of the continent’s most important carmakers exclusive access to Serbian lithium.

The agreements, covering sustainable raw materials and battery supply chains, came only a week after Serbia’s top court ruled that Belgrade’s decision to revoke Rio Tinto’s (NYSE: RIO; LSE: RIO; ASX: RIO) licence for the US$2.4-billion Jadar lithium project in 2022 was unconstitutional.

While the government supported Jadar’s development in the past, it cancelled the project in early 2022 because of public opposition.

“There will be no digging, no changes in the field, nor will there be. Until we get all the guarantees ourselves, nothing will happen in the next 12 to 18 months,” Vučić told Sarajevo Times this week.

Thousands took to the streets across Serbia on Monday to protest against the project and the recently signed agreement with the European Union.

Protests were held simultaneously in towns like Šabac, Kraljevo, Aranđelovac, Ljig, and Barajevo.

If completed, the Jadar project would be Europe’s biggest lithium mine, with a production of 58,000 tonnes of refined battery-grade lithium carbonate per year, enough to power one million electric vehicles and supply 90% of the continent’s current lithium needs.

Jadar would also propel Rio Tinto onto the world’s top 10 lithium producers’ list.