Serbia is open to talking with Rio Tinto about the Jadar Lithium Project

Jadar Lithium Project

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić has admitted that he wants to talk with Rio Tinto about the Jadar lithium project. In 2022 Serbian authorities revoked Rio Tinto’s licenses for lithium for the Jadar lithium Project (ca. of $2.4 billion).

Earlier on Wednesday during the World Economic Forum in Davos Vučić stated that he had a difficult conversation with Rio Tinto authorities. He said: „We are facing the question of whether the company will file a lawsuit against us or not”. He has added: „I asked them not to take measures to protect their interests.”

Assurance about talk

The Jadar lithium project was on hold after Serbian environmentalists collected 30000 signatures over the petition which demanded that parliament stop lithium exploration in 2021 and 2022. The activists have indicated that lithium exploitation will cause more pollution in Serbia, in already one of the most polluted European countries. Aleksandar Vučić has earlier stated that he has asked Rio Tinto for assurance about environmental standards. He has added that the newly formed government will address the issue.

„(Rio) must offer the cleanest solutions, which could be satisfactory to our people, the highest standards in the world for nature and the people who will work there”.

Rio Tinto in an email reply has informed that it is still the future of the Jadar lithium project: „(Rio) must offer the cleanest solutions, which could be satisfactory to our people, the highest standards in the world for the nature and the people who will work there.

To stimulate the Serbian economy the government has offered mineral resources to foreign investors e.g. China’s Zijin Mining Group.