The estimated value of mineral reserves in Serbia is higher than 200 billion euros and that is a huge wealth that we will take into account, said today the Minister of Mining and Energy, Zorana Mihajlovic.
She emphasized that no contract with Rio Tinto will be signed until all the necessary environmental impact studies have been conducted and until everyone has an insight into it.
– Serbia will not do anything that will endanger the environment, whether it is lithium, which is an ore of the 21st century or something else. Only when we know that lithium can be produced in a sustainable way with environmental protection, why not think about the lithium battery factory and electric cars, where growth will take place everywhere in Europe – the Ministry announced.
She points out that jadarite is the only mineral in the world and adds that the technology with which they will be excavated will also be unique.
– We should be aware of what research law means. No one has the right to enter the plot until the owner allows it. The company must meet a number of criteria – to have a project and the consent of several institutions. Those exploratory wells are 10-15 cm in diameter, no craters – the minister explained.
She says that there is a lot of aggression, fanaticism and untruths uttered by some environmentalists in Serbia, and adds that it is important to use the facts, instead of collecting points on half-information and intimidation of citizens.
The Minister pointed out that it is up to the state to create laws and to have a good inspection, and that this is an important year for the energy sector.
– We did not pass four new laws by chance. We are required to make a good energy policy in the time ahead, to be energy and environmentally safe, for citizens to have enough electricity that we will increasingly produce from renewable sources – hydro, gas and solar power plants, and gradually in the decades ahead, we are reducing and closing thermal power plants – the Minister concluded, Srbija Danas reports.
