{"id":261141,"date":"2021-08-03T04:30:45","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T04:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/?p=119539"},"modified":"2021-08-03T04:30:45","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T04:30:45","slug":"rio-tinto-in-serbia-the-jadar-lithium-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/08\/03\/rio-tinto-in-serbia-the-jadar-lithium-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Rio Tinto in Serbia: The Jadar Lithium Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

The company has been looking forward to this for some time.\u00a0 For an outfit found wanting in dealing with inhabitants of a land whose culture it eviscerated in a matter of hours in May last year, Rio Tinto could think grandly about another future. The Anglo-Australian mining giant could add its name to a sounder, more environmentally sensitive programme, join the responsible future gazers and stroke the ecological conscience. Forget the destruction<\/a> of the Juukan Gorge Caves in Western Australia.\u00a0 It was time to control the narrative.<\/p>\n

Eyes have shifted to the Balkans.\u00a0 The company is promising<\/a> $2.4 billion for the Jadar lithium-borates project in Serbia provided it gets the appropriate permits.\u00a0 In the coming weeks, it will transport a pilot lithium processing plant in four 40-foot shipping containers, suggesting a sure degree of optimism.\u00a0 From its science hub located on the outer parts of Melbourne, the company\u2019s research team claim to have identified an economically viable method of extracting lithium from the mineral jadarite.<\/p>\n

A statement<\/a> from the company outlined the importance of the Jadar project.\u00a0 \u201cJadar will produce battery-grade lithium carbonate, a critical mineral used in large scale batteries for electric vehicles and storing renewable energy, and position Rio Tinto as the largest source of lithium supply in Europe for at least the next 15 years.\u00a0 In addition, Jadar will produce borates, which are used in solar panels and wind turbines.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those at the company are already anticipating a nice public relations coup.\u00a0 The project \u201cwould scale up Rio Tinto\u2019s exposure to battery materials, and demonstrate the company\u2019s commitment to investing capital in a disciplined manner to further strengthen its portfolio for the global energy transition.\u201d<\/p>\n

In terms of schedule<\/a>, Rio Tinto hopes to start construction of the underground mine in 2022, with saleable production commencing in 2026.\u00a0 Full production is anticipated three years later.\u00a0 The complement will comprise 58,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate, 160,000 tonnes of boric acid and 255,000 tonnes of sodium sulphate.<\/p>\n

The company hopes to win over the Serbian authorities by promising rich additions to the local economy and stroking the ego of strategic significance.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not a huge mine,\u201d Sinead Kaufman, Chief Executive of Rio\u2019s Minerals division, told reporters<\/a>, \u201cbut from a lithium perspective, it\u2019s going to be the largest producer in Europe for at least ten years and bring lithium to the market at scale.\u201d\u00a0 Estimates are put at 1% of gross domestic product coming directly from Jadar itself, with 4% being the indirect contribution to the Serbian economy.\u00a0 The mine will come with incidental additions<\/a>: relevant infrastructure and equipment, electric haul trucks, a beneficiation chemical processing plant dealing with dry stacking of tailings.\u00a0 In all, enough lithium will be available to power a million electric vehicles.<\/p>\n

All this rosiness cannot detract from the issue of environmental sustainability.\u00a0 Rio promises<\/a> that a commissioned environmental assessment impact will be made available for comment \u201cshortly\u201d.\u00a0 \u201cWe are committed to upholding the highest environmental standards and building sustainable futures for the communities where we operate,\u201d states<\/a> the company\u2019s CEO Jakob Stausholm.\u00a0 \u201cWe recognise that in progressing this project, we must listen to and respect the views of all stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n

These statements are at odds with reality, both current and historical.\u00a0 Rio Tinto\u2019s Serbian subsidiary firm Rio Sava Exploration is currently facing charges<\/a> by two Serbian NGOs, the Coalition against Environmental Corruption and the Podrinje Anti-Corruption Team, PAKT, citing violations of environmental regulations since 2015.<\/p>\n

In fact, Rio\u2019s conduct has produced something of a green awakening in Serbia.\u00a0 A disparate number of environmental groups, academics and politicians have found rare common ground.\u00a0 In June, the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences sent a letter<\/a> to Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlovi\u0107 outlining the grave implications of permitting the project to go ahead.\u00a0 \u201cThe mine would cause great and irreversible damage not only to the area where it would be located, but to the entire country.\u201d\u00a0 The location of the mining complex would threaten agricultural land, forests, meadows and the water supply areas in Ma\u010dva.\u00a0 \u201cTailings with toxic residues from ore processing would span over 160 hectares.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last month, protesters gathered at Loznica to vent their concerns.\u00a0 At the gathering, Marijana Petkovi\u0107 of the Ne Damo Jadar initiative gave an insight<\/a> into the way Rio dealt with locals.\u00a0 \u201cThey came in 2004, they never answered us as people on three key things: what to do with the noise; with the water; what is the minimum amount of pollution.\u201d<\/p>\n

An online petition<\/a> against the mine has also attracted 125,685 signatures.\u00a0 It describes the Jadar Valley as having \u201cSerbia\u2019s fertile land\u201d marked by \u201cthousands of sustainable multi-generational farms.\u201d It speaks to fears about the imminent poisoning of water sources.\u00a0 \u201cThe process of separating chemically stable lithium from jadarite ore involves the use of concentrated sulphuric acid.\u201d\u00a0 The process would be undertaken some 20km from the Drina River using 300 cubic metres of water per hour, with the chemically treated water returned to the Jadar River.\u00a0 Entire basins of water, and water sources beyond Serbia, risked being contaminated.<\/p>\n

The petitioners also take issue with the lack of transparency on negotiations between Rio Tinto and the Serbian government, fearing \u201cpotential corruption on the government\u2019s behalf.\u201d\u00a0 Some homework of the company\u2019s sketchy record on the environment was also recounted, including \u201cthe destruction of a 45,000 year old sacred Australian Aboriginal cave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rio Tinto is a company loose with figures, selective in its consultative process (some call it bribery) and its accounts. The London Mining Network documents<\/a> a record replete with ruthless indifference, environmental crimes, and human rights abuses.\u00a0 At the company\u2019s 1937 annual general meeting, chairman Sir Auckland Geddes expressed<\/a> his gratitude to the fascist forces of Spain\u2019s General Francisco Franco, who had crushed a mining revolt that threatened the smooth operations of the company.\u00a0 \u201cMiners found guilty of troublemaking are court-martialed and shot,\u201d he noted with approval.<\/p>\n

The company is currently the subject of an investigation<\/a> by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on suspected breaches of disclosure rules on the value of Mongolia\u2019s Oyu Tolgoi mine, the company\u2019s biggest copper growth project.\u00a0 The expansion of the mine, coming in at $6.75 billion, is $1.4 billion higher than Rio\u2019s own estimate in 2016.<\/p>\n

Serbia\u2019s president Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107, sufficiently troubled by the indignation, is floating the idea of putting the project to a referendum.\u00a0 This is unlikely to trouble Rio Tinto, whose promises of economic manna for Serbia through jobs and placing it at the forefront of the lithium-electric car revolution is bound to mask potential environmental depredations.\u00a0 As with its record in other countries, this mining giant\u2019s understanding of consultation and accountability is estranged from that of a local populace treated as nuisances rather than citizens.<\/p>The post Rio Tinto in Serbia: The Jadar Lithium Project<\/a> first appeared on Dissident Voice<\/a>.\n

This post was originally published on Dissident Voice<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The company has been looking forward to this for some time.\u00a0 For an outfit found wanting in dealing with inhabitants of a land whose culture it eviscerated in a matter of hours in May last year, Rio Tinto could think grandly about another future. The Anglo-Australian mining giant could add its name to a sounder, [\u2026]<\/p>\n

The post Rio Tinto in Serbia: The Jadar Lithium Project<\/a> first appeared on Dissident Voice<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,16614,6,635,35,9264,75,2295,1825],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261141"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261141"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":261193,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261141\/revisions\/261193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}