LONDON/BELGRADE (Reuters) – Mining group Rio Tinto welcomed on Tuesday a Serbian government statement that it would reinstate a spatial plan licence for its Jadar project, a first step towards resuming development of Europe’s biggest lithium mine
That followed a Serbian court ruling on Thursday that overturned the 2022 government decision to annul Rio’s licence in response to protests from local environmentalists.
Welcoming the decision, Rio said in a statement that the project will be subject to stringent environmental requirements including an “extended phase” of legal, environmental and permitting procedures and public consultations before it is implemented.
In a statement on Thursday the government said that to comply with the court ruling it is taking measures to reverse to the situation prior to its previous decision.
Government officials were not available to comment further on the statement.
If developed, the $2.4 billion Jadar lithium project in Western Serbia could cover 90% of Europe’s current lithium needs and help make the company a leading lithium producer.
There is strong opposition to the project among activists and opposition parties in Serbia. They have threatened to radicalise protests by blocking roads and railways if the project is revived.
Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic told Tanjug news agency the Jadar project “represents the future of Serbia’s economic positioning in Europe”.
“It would not be responsible to ignore that possibility,” she said.
(Reporting by Clara Denina and Ivana Sekularac, additional reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Alison Williams and Jan Harvey)
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