Serbian farmers battle mining giant Rio Tinto over lithium mine

DW (English)

Serbian farmers in the Jadar River valley worry a planned lithium mine could ruin their livelihoods. But the government and mining giant Rio Tinto both defend the project that is supported by the EU.

Transcript

00:0048-year-old Zlatko Kokanovic is a seventh-generation farmer.

00:05He tends to his two dozen cows every day and loves village life here in Gornje Nedeljici.

00:11We're cattle farmers, and every year we sell about 100,000 liters of milk.

00:19My family, my five children, we live off of that, and we have no plans to change anything.

00:27As is the case with many other farmers on the western edge of Serbia, but a global mining

00:32giant does have plans for the Djada river valley due to its huge deposits of lithium,

00:38a key component of electric vehicle batteries.

00:42Rio Tinto has bought up land and farms across the valley.

00:45It plans to produce 58,000 tons of the metal annually, enough to supply batteries for over

00:50one million EVs.

00:54We're aware of Serbia's rich resources and the enormous potential, with confirmed reserves

01:00of 158 million tons of lithium borate.

01:04It's one of the best-analyzed deposits in Europe, with studies going back 20 years.

01:13While the government insists that mining operations will comply with the EU's strict environmental

01:17standards, opposition parties dismiss those promises.

01:24Where Rio Tinto has been around the world, it has left behind devastation and misery,

01:28including civil wars and the destruction of nature and cultural monuments.

01:34And that skepticism is shared by independent observers.

01:37This expert has been looking into the environmental impact of the planned mining project.

01:44The ore is mined with the help of intensive subterranean explosions, and the lithium processing

01:51will involve 1,100 tons of concentrated sulfuric acid daily.

01:56It will leave behind a mountain of waste that will pollute the environment for centuries.

02:06Rio Tinto says it's open to discussion.

02:08It's invested 600 million euros in the project to date, with plans for a further two billion

02:13euros.

02:14The company claims the mining will feature precise planning and environmentally friendly

02:18methods.

02:19Well, I want to assure everybody this project is 100% safe.

02:23It's been designed to the highest standards in the world.

02:26We will not be a big hole in the ground.

02:29In contrast, we're an underground mine.

02:32Agriculture coexists on the surface with the mine together.

02:36And in terms of water, we will not impact any agricultural water, any drinking water.

02:41We will not be poisoning any water sources.

02:44Despite the mining being done underground, Zlatko Gokanovic and his neighbors don't trust

02:48any of the parties involved, the corporation, the government, the courts, and the state-controlled

02:52media.

02:53The mine is not good for us.

02:58It should be in the desert, where nobody lives.

03:01It will leave us with no water.

03:03The mood in the Jadar Valley is tense.

03:07The farmer is determined to keep his land and livelihood.

03:13You can't dig up these graves, and I'm prepared to give my life to prevent that.

03:23There is currently little to no hope of a compromise.

03:26Locals have zero faith in state institutions and Rio Tinto.

03:31The Serbian government has said it would take another two years for the operation to be

03:34given final approval.

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