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Opposition to Rio Tinto's Jadar lithium project gains momentum in Serbia HIGHLIGHTS More than 110,000 signatures collected to ban project
Project to deliver 55,000 mt/year of battery grade lithium carbonatePublic opinion emerging as a factor in project's fate.
A petition calling for a ban on Rio Tinto's Jadar lithium mine project and associated metal processing complex in the Jadar Valley because of pollution concerns has garnered more than 110,400 signatures in Serbia by June 10.

The four-month-old petition drive, which is backed by a coalition of 19 NGOs, hit the 100,000-signature threshold June 9.

The Jadar project is designed to produce 55,000 mt/year of battery grade lithium carbonate -- for which global demand is growing in the electric vehicles and electronics sectors -- as well as 160,000 mt/year of boric acid (B2O3 units) and 255,000 mt/year of sodium sulfate.World lithium mine production dropped 4.6% to an estimated 82,000 mt in 2020, down from 86,000 mt in 2019, according to the USGS. Expressed as lithium carbonate equivalent, or LCE, global lithium production was slightly above 500,000 mt in 2019.
The Serbian government is prepared to hold a referendum to find out the will of citizens, Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vucic, said while expressing his support for the project in a press conference June 4.In December, Rio Tinto said when completed Jadar was expected to become the country's second largest exporter. A feasibility study is expected to be complete at the end of 2021, and if approved, construction would commence in early 2022 and take up to four years."This year we are implementing a land acquisition program, which is a prerequisite for a construction permit," Vesna Prodanovic, general manager of Rio Sava Exploration, said in March.
But not everyone is convinced about the project's merits."I appeal to people not to sell their land and to think about the consequences. This part of Jadar and Radjevina has been inhabited for more than 8,000 years, and no one will force us out," said Marija Alimpic, an activist with the Protect Jadar and Radjevina NGO, told Serbia's TV Nova S on June 6.

https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/electric-power/061021-opposition-to-rio-tintos-jadar-lithium-project-gains-momentum-in-serbia