Rio Tinto Refutes Claims About Jadar Project on Its Website – Company to Use All Legal Means Against “Spreading of False Information”

Rio Tinto has invited experts from various fields and those who oppose the Jadar project, that is, the mining of lithium in western Serbia, to talk about the project based on the facts, as they say, “in order to avoid a further misleading of the public.”

– The spreading of disinformation and baseless claims prevents the public conversation about the project from being based on facts and providing valid information – the company says in a press release.

Rio Tinto points out that, to the end of protecting its interests, it will use all legal means available in order to “prevent all further spreading of false information.”

On its website (riotintoserbia.com), Rio Tinto published several claims about the Jadar project, deeming them inaccurate. The company refutes the allegations that the Jadar project requires “tens of thousands of hectares”, saying that a total of 390 hectares is needed – 220 hectares in the central area of the project and 170 hectares for the landfill in the Stavica valley.

According to Rio Tinto, the claim that the geological explorations were done without a permit from the owners of the land and that they have harmed the environment is also untrue. The company says that all the works were done “in line with the Law on Mining and Geological Explorations.”

– The rights of access to the exploration locations are determined for each activity with the consent of the owner of the property. The boreholes are examined regularly, and in case of damage, all the malfunctions are removed immediately – the company says.

Regarding the claims that the leaking of the tailings would jeopardize the environment, Rio Tinto claims that leaking is not possible, because no liquid tailings pond is planned. Instead, the mining waste and the byproducts of ore processing would be in a dry, solid state.

As for the use of sulfuric acid, the company claims that it would be used at a temperature of 90 degrees, which couldn’t lead to the evaporation of sulfur-dioxide.

– It won’t be possible for the sulfuric acid to damage the ground, because the whole process would be carried out in closed systems. Sulfuric acid has a wide application and its use is strictly regulated by the regulations of the Government of Serbia and the best international practices – the press release says.

The company also refutes the claims that it has approved the decision on the stopping of the Jadar project and bribed the officials of the Government of Serbia, saying that they have no influence on the Government’s regulations.

– The Government of Serbia has adopted the Decree on the Termination of the Decree on the Spatial Plan of the Special-Purpose Area for the Realization of the Jadar Project. The speculations about corruption are a direct attempt to harm the reputation of Rio Tinto. The business policy of Rio Tinto explicitly forbids bribery and corruption – the press release says.

The company claims that the Jadar project would be “the biggest greenfield investment in the modern history of Serbia,” of around USD 2.5 billion, according to estimates from 2021, and that the annual contribution to the state budget and the budgets of the local self-governments would amount to EUR 180 million.

– 1,300 permanent jobs would be created and up to 3,500 temporary jobs during the construction. When multiplicative effects are calculated in, another 3,265 jobs will be created throughout Serbia. With each year of its operations, it would attract around EUR 700 million of direct added value and contribute to the growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the amount of over 3% of the current GDP of Serbia – said Rio Tinto.

Vlada Republike Srbije

Rio Tinto Exploration Dunav d.o.o. Beograd

Government of Serbia

Rio Tinto

Law on Mining

geological explorations

sulfuric acid

lithium