Hmmmmm! Although the Serbian government’s U-turn has been presented as a green light for the mining project to go ahead, Rio Tinto is back to the position it was in just before the government halted the project in January 2022, while also having to recalculate capital expenditure and reset deadlines as it gets things moving again, meaning it could be years before the first lithium is extracted.
“While the Jadar Project spatial plan has been reinstated, the project is required to progress through an extended phase of legal, environmental impact assessment and permitting procedures, as well as public consultations and business evaluations, before the project can proceed,” Rio Tinto said.