Serbia: multinational Rio Tinto announces the freeze of its lithium mine project

Environmental activists protest on April 9, 2021, outside the Rio Tinto offices in London, over proposals for a mine in Serbia (Image illustration).

© Guy Smallman / Getty images

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

After a brief but intense campaign of popular protests against its lithium mine project in Serbia, Rio Tinto has announced a freeze on its activities related to the project.

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With our correspondent in Belgrade

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In an extremely rare interview, the director for Serbia of the multinational mining company Rio Tinto, Vesna Prodanovic, announced that the company would no longer take any initiative that could worry Serbian citizens.

She says that activities related to the lithium mine project will be suspended and she calls for a public dialogue to say she, that the inhabitants are informed of all aspects of the project.

Present in Serbia since 2004, Rio Tinto discovered an ore rich in lithium, in a fertile region of the country.

Long remained very discreet, the project had accelerated in 2020. And last November, the government proposed two laws in favor of Rio Tinto which had ignited the powders.

For 3 weeks,

had blocked Serbia and forced the government to back down.

Rio Tinto, like Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who is due to put his mandate on the line next year, are playing the game of appeasement.

But the industrialist is still trying to buy the land close to the mining project.

Environmental activists warn: the project is not abandoned. 

► To read also: Lithium, the fuel of the future

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