Beljic: Ore from Site Near Loznica Can Be Exploited Efficiently, Rationally and Cost-Effectively

The drop of the price of lithium in the world by 80% does not mean that it will stay on that level, because that metal is an exchange good, whose prices fluctuate, said Cedomir Beljic, a professor at the Faculty of Mining and Geology in Belgrade.

– The prices of metal vary, these are exchange materials and they are determined by the supply and demand. Large industrial producers of batteries, such as China, affect the prices. It’s an integral part of the operations of the metal industry. After 2002, the price of copper jumped five to ten times for a short period of time – Beljic said for Beta, commenting on the lithium price drop.

According to him, the site near Loznica is significant, because there is a large amount of the ore which can be exploited “efficiently, rationally and cost-effectively, and in the long term, it can secure the workers’ livelihood, and there’s also the possibility of developing manufacturing capacities.”

– Underground exploitation is planned in Serbia, there is no significant impact on the terrain surface, and an inert mass would be put into the excavated spaces, that is, tailings or rock, so a quarry might have to be opened, I don’t know the details of the project – said Beljic.

He pointed out that, if it were realized, the Jadar project would not damage the surface to a great extent and the land on the surface would be suitable for agriculture, and “the projected level of the settling of the ground is not bigger than half a meter over 60 years.”

– The stories spun around the project are a consequence of not being familiar with the exploitation process. Mining is an activity which affects the living environment, because all mining changes the environment more or less, but what’s been planned for Jadar is one of the most favorable ways, because it is underground exploitation – Beljic said.

When asked for whom the exploitation pays off, the company or the state, Beljic says that companies cooperate with the state, because they increase the employment rate, affect the economy, pay the taxes.

– Mining has been pilloried and nobody wants to say what mining means for this country. What does Serbia export, raspberries of 200 dinars? RTB Bor (Zijin), the Smederevo Hesteel, Naftna Industrija, EPS, they all depend on mining – Beljic said.

He pointed pout that if the state adopted the decision not to open the lithium mine “no miner will pick up a spade and bang it against Terazije demanding for the mine to work.”

– If we are allowed, we will work, if not, we won’t. No mining engineer will claim that mining doesn’t affect the environment. Our task is to make the best possible project to protect the environment. If the state doesn’t want it, what is the alternative? We will deal only in raspberries, pigs, walnuts… and will the child let go of the mobile phone with a lithium battery, no it won’t – Beljic says.

He adds that “there’s always a possibility of an incident, but everything will be done for that not to happen.”

Rudarsko geološki fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu

Rio Sava Exploration d.o.o. Beograd

Rio Tinto Exploration Dunav d.o.o. Beograd

Faculty of Mining and Geology in Belgrade

European Commission

Rio Tinto

Čedomir Beljić

lithium

price of lithium

price of metal

price of copper

study of lithium reserves in Serbia

lithium reserves in Serbia

Jadar project

jadarite

lithium exploitation