“We came here today to raise our voice against something that is beyond politics”
Yes, the Serbs are angry. They value food for their families over money for mining companies.
Nationwide protests are underway in Serbia following the government's decision to revive Rio Tinto’s controversial lithium mining project in the Jadar river valley.
In the last 20 days there have been protests against Rio Tinto and mining in 30 cities in Serbia. Clearly, the Serbs are not fans of Rio Tinto or mining one of the most productive agricultural areas in the country.The western Jadar river valley, one of Serbia’s main agricultural hubs is responsible for around 20% of total agricultural production in Serbia.
Unfortunately it also has rich deposits of lithium. Jadar is estimated to contain 10% of the world’s reserves of lithium, the primary raw material for the production of the batteries that power electric vehicles.
The demonstrations, which swept through dozens of towns and cities over the past two weeks, culminated in a massive protest in Belgrade on the weekend. Tens of thousands of protestors gathered in the capital chanting “There will be no mining” and “Treason, treason”, before attempting to block two railway stations.
This plan had been scrapped in December 2021 after large demonstrations were held that included the blocking of key bridges and roads. But it was revived last month.......
Flashback to 2021: Novak Djokovic was banned from playing in the Australian Open for not being jabbed. Or was he really?
Rio Tinto is an Australian mining company that was planning to open a huge Lithium mine in Serbia. There had been massive anti Rio Tinto protests across Serbia in the months prior to the Australian Open, protests that were supported by many popular public figures, including Djokovic.
Djokovic shared a photograph of the protest on Instagram and commented that “clean air, water and food are keys to health. “Without that, every word about ‘health’ is obsolete,”
Would Rio Tinto be amused? Probably not. In fact, I suspect that they would not appreciate Novak Novax supporting a movement to stop them mining lithium in Serbia. Tut tut, Novak!
Talk about a net of intrigue and courting trouble. Naughty Novak had the audacity to enter into a debate over a very financially lucrative deal in Serbia for Rio Tinto and no doubt it was game set and match the moment he dared to speak out against an Australian mining giant like Rio Tinto.
He served a big dose of f##k you to Australia in December 2021 by backing his own country and joining the volley of voices that dared to play hard ball with Rio Tinto.
In fact, it could be said that he stepped over the line and was done and dusted.
It was, as stated, only December of 2021 that Rio Tinto paused its Jadar lithium project in Serbia after a municipality in the country scrapped a plan to allocate land for the mine. The very same plan that has now been revived.
Did Naughty Novak Novax help with this loss of allocation? Was he the poster child for Serbian Solidarity against lithium laying waste to fields of food for Serbs?
Jadar is estimated to contain 10% of the world’s reserves of lithium, the primary raw material for the production of the batteries that power electric vehicles.
Thousands of demonstrators blocked major roads across Serbia in December 2021 as people vented their anger over a government-backed plan to allow Australian mining company Rio Tinto to extract lithium.
Smaller protests were held in other Serbian cities.
Substantial deposits of lithium – a key component for electric car batteries – have been found around the western town of Loznica, where Rio Tinto bought land.
An increasingly common sight in Gornje Nedeljice are houses bought by Rio Tinto's Serbian subsidiary, with blown-out doors, windows and even roofs. How much of the village lies within the planned mining area has not been made public by the company. Photo: Alexander Jacobsson
Rio Tinto discovered lithium reserves in the Loznica region in 2006.
The company intended to invest $2.4bn in the project, according to Vesna Prodanovic, director of Rio Sava, Rio Tinto’s sister company in Serbia.
According to information from authorities, around 100 square kilometres of forest and fertile land need to be cleared to make way for mining, expansion of infrastructure and waste storage. source
Rio Tinto wants/wanted to develop the mine near Loznica in the western Jadar river valley, one of Serbia’s main agricultural hubs: it is responsible for around 20% of total agricultural production in Serbia. Jadar is/was set to produce 58,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate by 2029, which would make Rio Tinto one of the top 10 lithium producers in the world.
“Green technologies, electric cars, clean air – all of these depend on one of the most significant lithium deposits in the world, which is located right here in Jadar, Serbia, We completely understand your concerns about the environment. Rio Tinto is carrying out detailed analyses, so as to make all of us sure that we develop the Jadar project in line with the highest environmental, security and health standards.”
So said the TV ad that featured in Serbia from the mining giant.
“Rio Tinto: Together we have the chance to save the planet.”
The trouble is Rio Tinto has a somewhat chequered past when it comes to the environment. The chief executive of Rio Tinto’s iron ore operation, Simon Trott, said last year that the company was “not proud of its history” at its Marandoo mine in Western Australia where hundreds of ancient artifacts were thrown into a rubbish dump.
Only recently, the company finally agreed, after decades of appeals, to fund an “environmental and human rights impact assessment” of its former copper and goldmine in Panguna, in Papua New Guinea, where it is claimed that 1bn tonnes of mine waste were dumped into the Kawerong-Jaba river delta.
“We live with the impacts of Panguna every day. Our rivers are poisoned with copper, our homes get filled with dust from the tailings mounds, our kids get sick from the pollution.Some communities now have to spend two hours a day walking just to get clean drinking water because their nearby creeks are clogged up with mine waste.
We urgently need Rio Tinto to do what’s right and deal with the disaster they have left behind.”
— Theonila Roka Matbob - traditional landowner from Makosi village who has been elected to the Bougainville parliament source
Oh, and did I mention that then Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Chief of Staff at the time of Djokovic's ban was John Kunkel?
Before joining Scott Morrison’s office as chief of staff, Dr John Kunkel served as the former head of government relations at Rio Tinto and the former deputy chief executive of the Minerals Council of Australia.
With a PHD in economics, Kunkel is a master of election policy development. Under the Howard Government he worked in the secretive Cabinet Policy Unit, reviewing and crafting policies designed to resonate with the Coalition's base.
Following the fall of the Howard Government, Kunkel worked as an economic consultant before joining the Minerals Council of Australia as Deputy CEO.
After more than six years with the MCA, Kunkel joined the corporate ranks of mining giant Rio Tinto, as head of Government Relations.
In 2018 he joined Morrison's government as Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Australia. source: https://www.advoc8.co/blog/introducing-the-new-prime-minister-s-chief-of-staff
Nothing to see here folks.
