December 2, 2025
by in News

Rio Tinto halts lithium mining project Jadar in Serbia

Rio Tinto has suspended its lithium mining project Jadar in Serbia, Bloomberg learned from the company’s internal documents.

The suspension of the Jadar project, valued at USD 2.95 billion, is among the first decisions of Rio Tinto’s new CEO Simon Trott.

Bloomberg wrote that it saw an internal company memo revealing that the investment in Serbia would be switched to a care and maintenance regime, making it dormant.

“Given the lack of progress in permitting, we are not in a position to sustain the same level of spend and resource allocation,” the document reads.

According to the same source, Rio Tinto still considers Jadar an important lithium deposit that could play a significant role in Serbia and Europe’s energy transition.

The European Union has designated the project as strategically important. The race for lithium and other rare metals is intensifying due to China’s growing dominance.

Rio Tinto confirmed the contents of the memo.

The company told Blic that it “remains in Serbia” and that the Jadar project is entering a phase involving an assessment of project costs and resources. “Our focus will be to support our employees through the transition process, and to continue fulfilling our legal obligations to the local community as responsible landowners in the Jadar valley,” it added.

New investments and company restructuring

Trott became CEO in August, and the decision to suspend the Jadar project is part of efforts to streamline the business and focus on faster growth opportunities.

He reorganized Rio Tinto by dividing it into segments for iron, aluminum and lithium, and copper.

According to the memo, the company’s current head of lithium Paul Graves will leave the company.

Last year, Rio Tinto acquired Arcadium Lithium for USD 6.7 billion, gaining access to three lithium projects in development. At the same time, it is investing heavily in the Rincon lithium project in Argentina.

Due to oversupply in the lithium market, prices remain around 85% below their 2022 peak, the article adds.

Rio Tinto is the world’s second-largest mining company by market value. The Jadar mining and processing project, based on the mineral jadarite, discovered in 2004 in the Jadar valley in western Serbia, has faced strong opposition from the country’s citizens, environmental activists, and part of the expert community for many years. Balkan Green Energy News has published a chronological overview of the key events in the development of the Jadar project since 2001, when Rio Tinto arrived in Serbia.

Trott is scheduled to deliver his first strategic presentation on the company’s further development and restructuring on December 4 in London, during Rio Tinto’s Capital Markets Day.

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October 31, 2025
by in News

Serbia plans new mining law to align legislation with EU rules on critical raw materials

Serbia’s Ministry of Mining and Energy has launched a public consultation on a preliminary framework for a new law on mining and geological exploration. One of the goals of the new law is to align national legislation with European Union regulations on critical raw materials, sustainable development, and the circular economy.

The law will be harmonized with the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act and the European Green Deal, to gradually align Serbia’s regulatory framework with the EU’s goals for sustainable mining, climate neutrality, and secure minerals supply, according to a document outlining the basis for the draft law.

Earlier this year, the European Commission included a lithium mining project in Serbia among the EU’s strategic projects for critical raw materials. Rio Tinto’s Jadar project is the only one on the list that involves the extraction of lithium and boron.

Lithium mining in Serbia is among the EU’s strategic projects for critical raw materials

Regarding harmonization with EU regulations, Serbia intends to introduce standardized reporting systems in line with the Pan-European Reserves and Resources Reporting Committee (PERC) standards, the UN Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC), and the Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS), as well as implement ESG principles, which integrate environmental, social, and governance requirements into all phases of geological exploration and mining.

The main objective of the new law is to establish a modern, transparent, and efficient system for managing mineral and other geological resources in line with sustainable development standards, while strengthening the role of the state as the owner and steward of the country’s natural resources, according to the document.

It further highlights the need for more clearly defined mechanisms to ensure the application of sustainable mining principles and compliance with environmental standards, in line with advanced global practices. Investors’ obligations regarding environmental protection, land reclamation, and site remediation should be more precisely regulated during exploration and mining.

Investors’ obligations concerning environmental protection need to be more clearly defined

Improving the legal framework for granting exploration and mining rights is of particular importance, the document states. This would be done through models that ensure greater legal certainty, more efficient oversight, and consistent application of environmental and social standards, in line with sustainable mining principles.

The new law will also set clear criteria for identifying and protecting strategic mineral deposits, and ensure they are included in spatial and development plans. This would enable long-term protection of national interests in the field of mineral resources.

The law will digitalize permitting procedures for exploration and mining

The law will envisage digitalization and electronic processing in all administrative phases through a unified information system that enables electronic application and permitting, while allowing public access to data on exploration and mining fields.

The new law is also intended to ensure gradual alignment with European policies in the fields of green and digital transition.

The public consultation will be open until November 11, during which time citizens and organizations can submit proposals, comments, and suggestions.

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April 2, 2025
by in News

EU mission in Serbia handed 100,000 signatures against declaring Rio Tinto’s Jadar a strategic project

Informal environmentalist organization Eko Straža has submitted a letter to the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia urging the EU not to grant strategic status to Rio Tinto’s Jadar project in the country. The letter opposing the lithium mining and processing project is backed by the signatures of 100,000 citizens.

Bojan Simišić of Eko Straža said the signatures had been submitted because of the European Commission’s upcoming decision on strategic projects to produce critical raw materials in third countries. The decision is expected to be adopted this week, Fonet reported.

The letter, supported by 100,000 signatures, is the first concrete step by environmental associations and citizens after the announcement that the EU could grant Jadar the status of a strategic project. The site of Rio Tinto’s underground mine and processing unit is near the Western Serbian city of Loznica.

The EU has adopted the first list of strategic projects

On Tuesday, the European Commission approved the first 47 strategic projects, within EU territory, for the production of critically important raw materials. According to the announcement, the decision on the potential selection of proposals for facilities in third countries will be adopted at a later stage.

Under the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), such strategic projects are eligible for administrative and financial support.

Shortly after the decision was announced, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said that within seven or eight days, the EU would also declare the Jadar lithium project as strategic. He made the claim the same evening in Brussels, where he met with the bloc’s top officials.

Eko Straža: If the EU designates Jadar as strategic, protests will follow

Eko straža stressed that the EU does not have jurisdiction to designate Jadar as a strategic project. The organization also pointed out that Jadar was canceled by the Serbian government’s decision in 2022.

“If the EU puts the Jadar project on its list of strategic projects, we will press ahead with protests. However, we will no longer address the Serbian government, which has resigned, but will instead turn to international institutions,” said Eko Straža.

Balkan Green Energy News has compiled a chronological overview of the most important events concerning Jadar since 2001, when Rio Tinto established a subsidiary in Serbia.

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