Serbia revokes Rio Tinto lithium mine permits following demurrers

Serbia has withdrawn the disquisition licences of Anglo- Australian mining company Rio Tinto following weeks of demurrers over plans for a lithium mine.
 

" All permits were annulled. we put an end to Rio Tinto in Serbia," Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said on Thursday.
The decision comes just weeks ahead of Serbia's general election in April.
 

Relations between Belgrade and Canberra have also estranged lately over Australia's treatment and expatriation of Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic.
Djokovic, the world's number one men's tennis player who was unfit to contend in the Australian Open, has supported the demurrers against the controversial mine.

In December, he posted images on social media of demonstrators and green geographies along with commentary written in Serbian similar as" clean air and water are the keys to health" and" nature is our mama ".
Thousands of demonstrators have been taking to the thoroughfares in recent months, blocking main roads in several metropolises, including the capital Belgrade and the country's alternate- largest megacity Novi Sad.

They say the development of a large mine near the city of Loznica in the western Jadar Valley could beget irrecoverable damage to the geography and pollute the region's water inventories.

Rio Tinto had preliminarily said that any mining development in the country would meet both domestic and European Union environmental norms.

Guarding fragile ecosystems from lithium mining

Rio Tinto chief to step down over delve destruction

Ana Brnabic Serbia's first gay high minister

Speaking at a news conference in Belgrade on Thursday, Ms Brnabic- Serbia's first woman and first openly gay high minister- said the decision to abandon the$2.4 bn(£1.8 bn;A$3.3 bn) Jadar lithium mine was made in response to requests from environmental groups.

The design had been due to start product in 2027.

Rio Tinto's shares tumbled in Australia following the news, and were down more than 4 after requests opened in London.

It's really tempting to look for a link between Australia's treatment of Novak Djokovic and Serbia's cancellation of Rio Tinto's mining design.

After all, it does have headquarters in Melbourne as well as London. And Serbia's high minister, Ana Brnabic, blazoned the demise of the important- trumpeted lithium birth operation just days after her counterpart in Australia cheered the expatriation of Serbia's sporting icon.

The cancelled design is more likely a victim of Serbia's domestic politics, rather than a crazy politic tit- for- tat. Novak Djokovic is important to Serbia- but not as important as the$2.4 bn which the mining mammoth had promised to invest.

In fact, pulling the draw is a response to months of demurrers. The movement has surprised Serbia's authorities with its organisation, concinnity and broad support going well beyond the usual coalition of opposition activists.

The government doesn't want to go into April's choices against a background of blocked roads and allegations about favouring foreign investors over original interests.

But the environmentalists say they will continue protesting until the authorities issue a endless ban on lithium mining.

In December, original authorities in western Serbia scrapped a plan to allocate land for a lithium mine in the region.

President Aleksandar Vucic had said that the opening of such a mine would bear blessing following an environmental study and a vote.
In a statement to Reuters news agency, the Australian government said it rued Serbia's decision" We note the strong profitable benefits of the significant investment by Rio Tinto in Serbia," it said.

Lithium is the main element of the batteries used in electric vehicles and demand for the element is adding .
The World Bank estimates that encyclopedically the product of lithium will need to increase by 500 by 2050.