Team of experts: The Lithium Deposit in Serbia is Not Worth Exploiting

A team of scientists from Serbia and abroad published a report in the “Nature” group journal titled “The Impact of Exploration Activities for a Potential Lithium Mine on the Environment in Western Serbia.” The scientific paper was signed by, among others, Dr. Dragana Đorđević, Jovan M. Tadić from the University of Berkeley in the USA, Branimir Grgur from the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy at the University of Belgrade, Sanja Sakan from the Institute of Chemistry, Technology, and Metallurgy at the University of Belgrade, Ratko Ristić, professor at the Faculty of Forestry at the University of Belgrade, Jena Brezjanović from the University of North Florida in the USA, and Vladimir Stevanović and Bogdan Šolaja from the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

“The scientific report on the environmental impact of the planned ‘Jadar’ project, the opening of a lithium mine by the Rio Tinto company near Loznica, was not commissioned by anyone but was created by a team of experts who recognized the problem,” emphasized Dr. Dragana Đorđević, one of the authors and scientific advisor at the Institute of Chemistry, Technology, and Metallurgy at the University of Belgrade.

The team of scientists concludes that research drilling by the mining company has already produced environmental damage, with mine water containing high levels of boron leaking from exploratory wells and causing crops to dry out.

“Furthermore, our investigations reveal substantially elevated downstream concentrations of boron, arsenic, and lithium in nearby rivers as compared to upstream regions. Additionally, we show that soil samples exhibit repeated breaches of remediation limit values with environmental consequences on both surface and underground waters. With the opening of the mine, problems will be multiplied by the tailings pond, mine wastewater, noise, air pollution, and light pollution, endangering the lives of numerous local communities and destroying their freshwater sources, agricultural land, livestock, and assets”; pointed out the authors.

You can read the full paper in English at the following link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-68072-9 or pdf.