License regained

Chances of EU lithium deal in Serbia increase

The mining company Rio Tinto was given back the license for the planned mine in Serbia's Jadar Valley.(Bild: APA/AFP/Andrej ISAKOVIC)

The chances of Serbian lithium deliveries to the EU have increased again: The mining group Rio Tinto has regained the license for Europe's largest lithium mine. This could trigger a boost in supplies to car manufacturers in Europe for the production of electric cars. 

The European industry has been looking for suppliers of lithium all over the world for years and is in fierce competition with China, which is now the leader in the field of e-cars. Chinese companies have secured lithium mines and further processing in many countries. China's President Xi Jinping also stopped off in Serbia during his trip to Europe. However, because battery technology is now considered a strategically important area by the EU and Germany, European manufacturers and governments are striving for greater independence from China.

Serbian private broadcaster N1 TV reported that German Chancellor Scholz and EU Vice President Maros Sefcovic will travel to Belgrade on July 19 to sign a memorandum of understanding between the EU and Serbia on a strategic partnership in sustainable raw materials, battery production supply chains and electric vehicles.

According to Rio Tinto, the lithium deposits discovered in 2004 in Jadar (western Serbia) could produce 58,000 tons of lithium carbonate, 160,000 tons of boric acid and 255,000 tons of sodium sulphate annually.(Bild: AFP/Andrej ISAKOVIC)

Criticism from environmentalists
The planned lithium mining has led to controversy in Serbia because environmentalists have accused Rio Tinto of potentially causing massive environmental damage. Rio Tinto significantly revised its plans as a result of the protests. A few days ago, a Serbian court ruling overturned the Serbian government's decision in 2022 to cancel Rio Tinto's license due to a lack of environmental protection measures.

The company welcomed the decision and said the project would be subject to strict environmental requirements, including an "extended phase" of legal, environmental and permitting procedures and public consultations before implementation.

Mine could meet 90 percent of current demand
The $2.4 billion Jadar lithium project in western Serbia could meet 90 percent of Europe's current lithium demand and make the company a leading producer of the commodity. Serbian environmentalists criticized that lithium mining would still lead to massive damage and called on Germany to use domestic sources instead.

Serbia's Mining and Energy Minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic, on the other hand, told the Tanjug news agency that the Jadar project represented "the future of Serbia's economic positioning in Europe".