Rio Tinto crew reported in western Serbia

Ne damo Jadar

Residents of a village in western Serbia said they found Rio Tinto staff on their land on Thursday, adding that they would not say why they were there.

Rio Tinto halted its plans to open a lithium mine in Western Serbia following weeks of protests across Serbia and a decision by the government to revoke permits. Rio Tinto continued buying land in the Jadar area after the decision leaving local people afraid that work would continue to open the mine.

The villagers in Gornja Nedeljica recorded a video of the men on their fields which was sent to the Ne Damo Jadar organization. That village was the focus of the protests against Rio Tinto with its farmers reporting pollution in places where Rio Tinto crews drilled holes to search for lithium deposits.

The farmers demanded to know why the men were in the field and what they were doing and were told that they were inspecting the abandoned exploration holes.