If there is a chance to process lithium ore in the place where it is mined, it is better than taking it “outside” because it also means new jobs, but every part of the process must be carried out in compliance with environmental standards, said the academician and geologist Vladica Cvetković.
“It is not a decision that is made in one day, but an impact study (on the environment) must also be done, the state of the market must be seen, and logical discussions must be held,” said Cvetković, answering the question of how he comments on the possibility that the lithium ore that would eventually be mined in Serbia is not exported, but that it is processed here, as well as that it is followed by the opening of a factory for the production of lithium batteries and electric cars.
As reported by Demostat, Cvetković, who is a regular member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) and a regular professor at the Faculty of Mining and Geology in Belgrade, pointed out that “a lot of things are used as anti-mining talk” in discussions about lithium mining in Serbia.
“There is lamentation about mineral rent and how we will ‘save’ on mineral rent, and how, eventually, there will be new jobs and activities that will increase our GDP, but ‘all this is nothing compared to what the company will get, the same is said about the Chinese and Zijin in Bor. However, you have to think about the alternatives – if the alternative for you is to keep the ore deposit in the ground, live in a meadow and never extract ore from that big deposit, but then there is no whining when there is no one to buy your tomatoes. Of course, I would be very unhappy that any ore is extracted only for mining rent,” Cvetković pointed out.
Commenting on the fact that the Rio Tinto company’s Jadar project in Serbia was followed by numerous misinformation, Cvetković said that the company did not have a “communication strategy”. Cvetković stated that it is a “general shame” that the study of the impact of the Jadar project on the environment was not disclosed.
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