Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mining and Energy Zorana Mihajlovic said as a guest on the morning program of TV Happy that Serbia is rich in critical mineral raw materials that are necessary for the future of the world economy, the Ministry of Mining and Energy announced.
As stated, Mihajlovic said that although there are proven reserves of lithium, boron, copper, gold and other raw materials and that their value is 250 billion euros, new mines will not be launched if all environmental protection standards are not met.
“I was in Gornje Nedeljice, there was also a place for me, because I needed to talk to people who live where, perhaps, lithium will be exploited at some point. The fact that some say that I missed the village does not matter, it is important that the minister talks to people who hear untruths from various surgeons every day. The key question is whether we will take advantage of the fact that we are rich in critical minerals and whether we will have not only a mine, but also a battery factory and an electric vehicle factory, but only if all European and world environmental standards are met,” she said.
Mihajlovic reiterated that, in the case of starting a mine, it would be underground exploitation, with new technologies, without evaporation of sulfuric acid and without liquid waste.
“Everything that is done must be in accordance with the laws that are harmonized with the EU. If all three studies show that everything is within those standards, then we will work. If they show otherwise, we won’t. The main message to everyone is that the state will not do anything that is to the detriment of citizens, the environment and the economy. I visited a family in Gornje Nedeljice with four children who live from agriculture. Of course they are worried because they listen to various so-called environmentalists that the entire space in which they live will disappear, which is a lie. It is true that lithium is the oil of the 21st century and that we want a complete production chain – from a mine, through a battery factory, to an electric vehicle factory. That will mean an increase in GDP by more than 25% and more than 17 billion euros in revenue annually,” she said.
Mihajlovic said that no agreement had been signed with “Rio Tinto”, which has been researching in Serbia since 2004, on the exploitation of lithium, and that the decision on that will be made by the citizens after all studies on the impact on the environment are completed, Danas reports.
