SASA Member: Lithium Excavation Should Be Discussed Without Anti-Mining Hysteria, There Are Many Ores That Are More Toxic

If there is a way to process the lithium ore in the location where it is excavated, that is better than taking it “outside”, because it also entails new jobs, but each part of the process needs to be done in compliance with the environmental standards, stated Vladica Cvetkovic, a geologist and a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. On the “Pola sata Demostata” show, Cvetkovic said that this option should be seriously considered, “which also means weighing the pros and the cons”, and without “anti-mining hysteria”.

– It is not the kind of decision that is made in an afternoon. Instead, an (environmental) impact study needs to be done, the situation in the market needs to be examined and logical talks need to be had – said Cvetkovic, when asked to comment on the possibility of not exporting the lithium ore that would potentially be excavated in Serbia, and processing it here instead, and of having it be accompanied by the opening of a factory for the production of lithium batteries and electric cars.

As Demostat announced, Cvetkovic, who is a regular member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SASA) and a full-time professor at the Faculty of Mining and Geology in Belgrade, pointed out that, in the talks about the mining of lithium in Serbia, “there’s plenty of it that is used as an anti-mining argument”.

– There are plenty of complaints about the mining compensation and how we will be “reduced” to the mining compensation and how there might be new jobs and activities that would increase our GDP, but that “it’s all nothing compared to what the company will get”, which is what’s also said about the Chinese and Zijin in Bor. Still, you have to consider the alternatives – if the alternative is for the ore site to remain in the ground, to live a rural life and never excavate the ore from that big site, then don’t complain when there’s nobody to buy the tomatoes you’ve grown… Of course, I would be very unhappy if any ore was excavated just for the mining compensation – Cvetkovic pointed out.

Commenting on the fact that the Jadar project of the company Rio Tinto in Serbia had been accompanied by numerous instances of disinformation, Cvetkovic said that the company had not had a “communication strategy”.

– Resistance against one project has grown into the completely senseless agenda of requesting a ban on the exploration of boron and lithium in the entire Serbia, first by asking the public, which has been exposed to a media spin, uneducated and scared people, whether thy like lithium… I can say from firsthand experience that lithium is no more toxic or problematic than other metals that are exploited. In fact, there are much, much more dangerous metals that can cause big environmental problems – Cvetkovic said.

Cvetkovic said that it was “a general disgrace” that the Environmental Impact Assessment Study of the Jadar Project had not been made public.

– There is no place where there’s a geology law without the Environmental Impact Assessment Study, it is necessary in order to go from the exploration phase to the exploitation phase. There are several projects in Europe that are at an advanced phase, like, for example, Barroso in Portugal… In Germany as well, there is a project where the permit for the exploitation of lithium has been obtained… But here, there was first the spreading of fear, for example, there were claims like: “All countries are giving up on mining, we will be nothing more than a colony”… Fear has already spread and those who want to talk about it using arguments are immediately tagged as lobbyists – Cvetkovic said.

He pointed out that, in any mining project, whether of local or foreign companies, environmental standards needed to be complied with, that is, there needed to be striving toward what is called “ecologically sustainable mining” or “green mining”.

SANU Beograd

Rudarsko geološki fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu

Rio Sava Exploration d.o.o. Beograd

Vladica Cvetković

SASA

Faculty of Mining and Geology Belgrade

Rio Tinto

Zijin

lithium

lithium mining

lithium excavation

lithium processing

lithium batteries

production of lithium batteries

mining compensation

Jadar project

green mining