An environmental organization opposed to the opening of a Rio Tinto mine in western Serbia said on Tuesday that it was told that the Loznica town assembly would vote to abolish a decision allowing the mine to go ahead.

The Ne Damo Jadar organization said in a press release that the July 29 decision to allow changes to the Loznica municipality’s spatial plans would be withdrawn at the next assembly session later this week. “We have won another small victory in our battle against the lithium mine in the Jadar valley,” it said. The Rio Tinto company has plans to open a lithium mine in the Jadar valley and has been doing geological research for several years. Local farmers and environmental organizations have been protesting to stop the mine for months and have managed to force the authorities to withdraw two laws which were reported to have been introduced to accommodate Rio Tinto.

The organization’s claims were confirmed on Tuesday evening by President Aleksandar Vucic at an open session of the government. Vucic said that the Loznica local authorities would abolish the spatial plan which included the lithium mine. “I think the Loznica town assembly will decide to withdraw the spatial plan and we will talk to Rio Tinto in a different way as well as anyone else in future,” he said.