[2] The Jadar mine has reserves amounting to 118 million tonnes of ore grading 1.8% lithium oxide[2] The deposit was discovered in 2004.
[4] The Serbian government revoked licences for the Jadar project in January 2022 after large environmental protests.
In January 2024, President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić stated that the government wants to hold further talks with Rio Tinto and that there should be more public discussion over whether the project should go ahead.
[6] One week later, Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović signed a memorandum with Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President and "overseer" of the European Green Deal, agreeing on the basis of critical raw materials, battery value chains, and electric vehicles related to the mining project.
"[7][6] Proponents also claim that the mining project would 'push Serbia closer to the EU and help reduce the EUs dependency on China for lithium.