Prices for lithium, the building block of electric vehicle batteries, shot to a record this year, amplifying concerns there won¡¯t be enough of the metal to fuel the switch away from combustion engines. In that climate, now should be a prime time to build a mine.
Rio Tinto Group is finding out otherwise. Within months of unveiling plans for a $2.4 billion mine in western Serbia, local opponents organized a movement that¡¯s rocked the government and brought cities to a standstill as thousands of protesters march in the streets. Authorities subsequently suspended a land-use plan for the proposed mine, though they didn¡¯t reject the project completely.
¡°The entire Jadar project is just another way for multinational companies, with the help of our state, to make profit and cause damage to the people of Serbia,¡± said Slavisa Miletic, an activist living near the planned mine.
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