Name of the Project
Jadar lithium-borates project.

Location
Near the City of Loznica, western Serbia.

Project Owner/s
Rio Tinto.

Project Description
In January 2022, the government of Serbia cancelled the spatial plan for the project and revoked Rio Tinto's licences pertaining to the proposed project.

Jadar was touted to be one of the biggest industrial investments in Serbia.

The proposed project would have produced battery-grade lithium carbonate, a critical mineral used in large-scale batteries for electric vehicles, and in storing renewable energy, and would have positioned Rio Tinto as the biggest source of lithium supply in Europe for at least 15 years.

The project was also expected to produce borates, which are used in solar panels and wind turbines. The development was expected to include an underground mine with associated infrastructure and equipment, as well as electric haul trucks and a beneficiation chemical processing plant.

Following ramp-up to full production, the mine would produce about 58 000 t/y of lithium carbonate, 160 000 t/y of boric acid and 255 000 t/y of sodium sulphate, making Rio Tinto one of the top ten lithium producers in the world. Based on this yearly production of lithium carbonate, Rio Tinto aimed to produce 2.3-million tonnes of lithium carbonate over the expected 40-year life-of-mine.

Potential Job Creation
The project will create 2 100 jobs during construction, and 1 000 mining and processing jobs once in production.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
In January 2022, the government of Serbia cancelled the spatial plan for the project and revoked Rio Tinto's licences pertaining to the proposed project. Rio Tinto had committed $2.4-billion to the project.

Planned Start/End Date
First saleable production was expected in 2027, with full production expected in 2029.

Latest Developments
Rio Tinto has reported that newly published environmental studies have shown that the project, which was stopped in 2022 after massive protests, will be safe for the environment.

Rio's Serbian unit made several environmental studies, conducted over the past six-and-a-half years, public on June 13. Rio representative in Serbia, Marijanti Babic, said at the time that the company had published the studies to "renew a public dialogue" about the project.

"Results of scientific research show that the Jadar project can be realised safely by respecting [the] highest domestic and international environmental standards," the company said in a statement on June 13.

Green activists say the mine will be opencast and pollute water supply, causing more environmental damage in Serbia, which is one of Europe's most polluted countries.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Rio Tinto (Serbia), tel +381 15 872 834.