Serbia's government said on Tuesday it has reinstated permits for Rio Tinto's $2.4 billion (2.2 billion euro) lithium-borate mine project in the country, days after a court ruling overturned an earlier decree halting the development.
"The government … takes measures to restore the legal order to the state that existed before the adoption of the regulation that was declared unconstitutional," it said in a statement.
Last week, Serbia's constitutional court overturned the government's decree from 2022 canceling the mine's spatial plan permit, saying it was adopted in an unconstitutional manner.
The government blocked the project after Rio Tinto failed to provide more detailed information for the mine to address public's concerns about the project's environmental impact, then prime minister Ana Brnabic said at the time. The decision was taken amid a wave of protests across the country with protesters claiming the project would cause irreversible environmental damage to the Jadar Valley, where the mine is planned to be located.
Lithium is vital for battery production and is considered one of the most critical minerals for the energy transition.
Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic said in an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday that "new guarantees" from Rio Tinto and the EU seemed set to address environmental concerns about the mine.
"If we deliver on everything, [the mine] might be open in 2028," Vucic told the Financial Times. He also stated the mine was projected to produce 58,000 tons of lithium per year, which is "enough for 17% of EV production in Europe - approximately 1.1 million cars."
Serbia's finance minister Sinisa Mali said last week in an interview with public broadcaster RTS that the value chain connected to the planned mine would bring in between 10 billion euro and 12 billion euro a year, or 16% of the country's GDP.
Rio discovered the reserve of jadarite, named after the Jadar Valley in western Serbia, in 2004. The Anglo-American miner planned to complete the construction of an underground mine at the site in 2026.
(SeeNews, July 16, 2024)
