The Serbian government has revoked the lithium mining licences granted to the Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto after growing opposition to the company’s plans and souring relations with Australia after the deportation of Novak Djokovic.
Ana Brnabić, the Serbian prime minister, who faces a general election in early April, said all decisions and licences regarding Rio Tinto’s plans had been annulled because of environmental concerns.
The decision in effect pulls the plug on a potential $2.4bn (£1.8bn) investment by Rio Tinto in developing the country’s lithium resources, which could have made Serbia one of the world’s biggest producers of the highly sought-after metal used in the manufacturing of electric vehicles.
The government U-turn comes after weeks of protests against the project in the capital, Belgrade, and swathes of smaller towns across the country over the environmental and health impact of the project.
It also comes as relations between Belgrade and Canberra have soured after the high-profile deportation of Djokovic from Australia on Sunday before the Australian Open for failing to comply with Covid-19 vaccination rules.
The defending Australian Open champion shared a photograph of the protests against Rio Tinto’s plans with his 10.1 million followers on Instagram, and commented that “clean air, water and food are keys to health”.
In a televised address, Brnabić said the government had “fulfilled all the demands from the environmental protests and have put an end to Rio Tinto in the Republic of Serbia”.
Rio Tinto said late on Thursday that it was “extremely concerned” by the prime minister’s statement. Its share price tumbled on the Australian markets, closing 4.1% lower after its worst intra-day drop since August 2021. In London, Rio’s shares were down more than 3% on Friday morning.
“Rio Tinto is reviewing the legal basis of this decision and the implications for our activities and our people in Serbia,” the company said.
Earlier this week Brnabić said the government was prepared to “fight against” any potential lawsuit from Rio Tinto linked to its cancellation of the project.
After Thursday’s announcement, activists called on opponents of the mine to increase pressure on the government until it banned future lithium and borate mining projects in the country.
“Just one more step. We’re close,” tweeted Savo Manojlovic, a protest leader.
The hunt for lithium has set off a “white gold rush” across the globe as major corporations, including carmakers, scramble to secure sufficient supplies to meet their ambitious goals to switch to greener fuel sources and technology. Critics of the mine had highlighted Aleksandar Vučić’s government’s poor record of regulating its industrial sector, saying the administration had shrouded many projects backed by international investors in secrecy.
