Serbia blocks Rio Tinto’s plan to mine lithium after protests

Environmentalists’ campaign shakes government into putting multinational’s $2.4bn mining operation on hold

Local authorities in western Serbia have suspended a plan that would allow mining giant Rio Tinto to operate a lithium mine, following protests by environmentalists that shook the country’s populist leadership.

The mining had been expected to start in the near future, but a town council in Loznica voted to suspend a regional development plan that permitted the excavation of lithium. The vote followed the suspension last week of two key laws in Serbia’s parliament that ecologists said would help the multinational mining company start the project.

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