When will the exploitation of lithium, an element that builds into long-life current batteries and one of the most demanded elements in the world, begin in Serbia? Serbia has the world’s largest lithium reserves. Info portal “Deutsche Wirtschaftsnachrichten” writes about Serbia’s lithium wealth.
“Blumberg” reports that Serbia has the largest lithium reserves in Europe. The tank is located in West Serbia in Macva. The mineral there is called jadarite. Apparently there are reserves of 118 million tonnes of ore, containing 1.8 percent of lithium oxide, according to the USGS’s US Geological Survey.
Mining concern Rio Tinto announced a few months ago that it would begin exploiting lithium in four years as part of its Jadarite extraction project. The decision will be made at the end of 2020. By then, a feasibility study on the project should be completed. According to the chief of Rio ink, Jean-Sebastian Jacques, resources near Loznica in Western Serbia offer the opportunity to meet the need for electrification worldwide. In February 2019, Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic called the project “one of the greatest hopes for Serbia”. The stockpile of raw materials was discovered in 2004. In addition to lithium, there are large amounts of boron. Rio tinto says it is the world’s largest the lithium site.
Since the beginning of the project, Rio tinto has been working closely with the Serbian government and local officials to enable the project to move forward responsibly and in a way that will benefit the surrounding municipalities.
Rio tinto believes that boron and lithium play an important role in energy efficiency in the future. Lithium is an important ingredient in the production of batteries for electric cars and electronic devices of the highest quality. And boron is used in the production of glass fibre insulators and wind energy plants, as Rio Tinto put it in a statement.
Lithium – 21st Century Gold
Lithium is one of the most sought after alkaline metals and raw materials in the world. It really owes that importance to growth of the electrical industry. Electric cars operate with lithium batteries. “CNN money” describes lithium as “gold of the 21st century”. In particular, US-based companies such as Tesla, Google and Apple want to boost investment in the electric car sector in the coming years, which should lead to an increase in demand for lithium. The countries currently major in lithium exploitation are Australia, Chile, Argentina, China, Zimbabwe, Portugal and Brazil, as “Investing News” reports. China and Europe are the biggest consumers of lithium The strategic importance of this raw material is explained by the CIA on its website. The CIA reports that it is dealing a lot with technological development, and that they invented and used the first lithium battery in the CIA in the 60s, “Deutsche Wirtschaftsnachrichten” writes.
For the conclusion, Rio tinto states on its website that the chemical composition of lithium is similar to kryptonite – a fictitious element that gives strength to Superman.
Source: dw.com
