Photo: APIn Mexico, they nationalized lithium, but in that business they want to cooperate with other countries, in Serbia they want to turn it into currency. There is a lot of talk about cooperation with Mercedes, which would make electric cars here, and with Rio Tinto, which would mine the lithium needed for the batteries of those cars.
These days, just when the news indicates that Rio Tinto will still mine lithium in Serbia, information was published on how the problem of lithium alienation was solved in Mexico. Although their problem is not similar to ours, for example, unlike us, they do not have an environmental problem, it is not bad to hear someone else's experience.
In our country, the story of lithium mining is visibly and suddenly updated, with which, it seemed, even for a moment, we have finished.
First, two weeks ago, Zdravko Ponoš, the president of the Serbia Center movement (SRCE), said that the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, was in Brussels on December 9 and that he had a meeting there with Rio Tinto.
Vučić confirmed in the Serbian Parliament that he had a meeting in Brussels, but avoided saying whether he met with Rio Tinto.
Then, three days ago, BIRN's research was published, according to which Rio Tinto bought at least 2022 hectares of land in the vicinity of Loznica, worth at least 5,78 million euros, as of June 1,2.
A day after that, Demostat announced that the Government of Serbia is negotiating with the German car giant Mercedes, the Australian-British company Rio Tinto and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on the realization of a project that involves the construction of an electric car factory. The potential investment, as stated, depends on whether lithium will be exploited in our country, but also on the foreign policy orientation of the authorities in the coming period. According to Demostat, the negotiations are getting closer to a final agreement.
This practically means that Rio Tinto will mine lithium in Serbia, even though the Government of Serbia officially suspended the "Jadar" project at the beginning of last year due to the protests of environmental activists.
In Mexico, foreign companies will not be able to mine lithium because the president there, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, signed a decree accelerating the nationalization of deposits in the country and handing over all rights to lithium to the Ministry of Energy, reports RT Balkan.
Let's make "the state the owner of this strategic mineral," Obrador said. "What we are doing now ... is to nationalize lithium so that it cannot be exploited by foreigners from Russia, China or the US," Obrador added.
The Mexican government has no experience in lithium mining or commercial production of the metal, according to Reuters, and recalls that last week, the CEO of the state-owned lithium production company, Pablo Tadei, said that Mexico was open to partnerships, but that the federal government would have a majority stake in any future joint venture.
Demostat previously wrote that, if lithium is exploited in Serbia, the condition of the Government of Serbia will be the construction of a battery factory and an electric car factory. At that time, it was stated that Serbia will not allow the exploitation of lithium just to export it to other countries. Mercedes, whose arrival is announced, fulfills that condition.
All that remains is for the inhabitants of Jadr to be convinced that the exploitation of lithium will not destroy their land.
Marijana Petković from SEOS says that "Rađevina, Jadar, Praljani, Rekovac will not become the property of foreign companies and the property of foreigners", and claims that they will remain where they are, that they will engage in agriculture and that no one will mine lithium.
S.Ć./N1
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