Rio Tinto submits request to define scope, content of Jadar project environmental study

The study pertains to land registry plots within the municipalities of Gornje Nedeljice, Brnjac, Veliko Selo, Jarebice, Slatina, Stupnica, and Surice in the city of Loznica, in accordance with the Spatial Plan of the Special Purpose Area for the realization of the jadarite mineral exploitation and processing project in the Jadar deposit.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection said on its website that all interested parties can review the content of the request every work day from 11am to 2pm at the Ministry offices and on its website, in the City of Loznica assembly hall and website and in the assembly hall and website of the municipality of Krupanj.

Citizens and organizations can submit their opinions within 15 days of the publication of this notice in print media and on the Ministry’s website, the Ministry said.

Environmental Uprising: Violation of Serbia’s Constitution

In response to Rio Sava's request, the Environmental Uprising movement pointed out that the Constitutional Court's decision of July 11, 2024 regarding the constitutionality and legality of the Serbian Government's decree to stop the plans to open a lithium mine in western Serbia stated that this decision “does not revive the Spatial Plan of the Special Purpose Area for the realization of the Jadar project."

Despite the Constitutional Court’s decision, on July 16, 2024 the government issued another decree, which Environmental Uprising described as unconstitutional, regarding the implementation of the Decree on Determining the Spatial Plan of the Special Purpose Area for the exploitation and processing of the mineral jadarite in the Jadar deposit.

Environmental Uprising pointed out that, by issuing this decree, the Serbian Government once again reinstated the Spatial Plan of the Special Purpose Area, thus enabling the company Rio Sava EXPLORATION' d.o.o. Belgrade, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, to submit the aforementioned request.

The movement stressed that the government is once again violating the Constitution because it does not have the authority to determine Serbia’s mineral policy, which is under the jurisdiction of the Serbian Parliament.