RIO - Rio Tinto To Initiate Largest European Lithium Project By 2028 | Benzinga
Serbia is poised to grant Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) approval to develop Europe's largest lithium mine. The Jadar project, which was suspended in 2022, could start production by 2028, providing Europe with metal much needed for its electric vehicle (EV) industry.
"New guarantees from Rio Tinto and the European Union seem to address Serbia’s environmental concerns regarding the Jadar site in western Serbia," Serbian President Aleksandar Vu?i? said in an interview with the Financial Times.
The Jadar project, discovered by Rio Tinto geologists in 2004 near Loznica, contains a high-grade lithium-boron mineral, adequately named as Jadarite. This underground mine aims to produce 58,000 tons of refined battery-grade lithium carbonate annually, which would be enough to supply 17% of Europe's EV production, approximately 1.1 million cars per year.
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