Expert: Report on Impact of Planned Lithium Mining Prepared by Scientists Who Recognize the Problem

Rio Tinto's Information Center, Gornje Nedeljice(BETAPHOTO/MILAN TIMOTIC/DS)

A scientific report on the environmental impact of the planned Jadar project, which involves opening a lithium mine by Rio Tinto near Loznica, was not commissioned by anyone, but rather prepared by a team of experts who have recognized the problem, one of the authors of the document, a research consultant at the Belgrade University Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, Dragana Djordjevic, explained on July 26.

"We are the scientists who recognized the problems that opening a lithium mine in the Jadar Valley could cause, and we have researched the environmental consequences of the project," Djordjevic told BETA. She insisted that none of the experts involved in the research were summoned or gathered and that they were just scientists doing their job when they saw a problem. The team of local and international scientists published a report called, The impact of exploratory activities connected with a potential lithium mine on the environment in western Serbia, in Nature magazine.

"I understand the people who worked for Rio Tinto because they signed a confidentiality agreement," Djordjevic said. When asked if she had read a statement by the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture listing "five green Jadar project facts," Djordjevic said that some faculties, including the School of Agriculture in Novi Sad, worked for Rio Tinto.

"To them, everything is green. Every mine is in direct conflict with agriculture. Agricultural land can be turned into a mine, but a mine can never be turned back into agricultural land. Is there any agriculture around the Bor and Majdanpek mines?" Djordjevic asked. She emphasized that "a mine permanently contaminates the soil," and asked would people buy agricultural products grown near one.