BELGRADE – “Rio Tinto has made the decision to start the Care and Maintenance phase of the project, which includes a comprehensive assessment of the project’s costs and resources. At this time, we will not deal with speculations as to what the results of the ongoing assessment will be”, states Rio Tinto for European Western Balkans, commenting on the latest media claims that the company “has suspended its $2.95 billion Jadar lithium-mining project in Serbia.
Bloomberg Adria portal reported today that the project would be put into “care and maintenance” mode, as part of an effort to streamline the portfolio and “prioritise short-term opportunities”.
Asked to clarify its position regarding the Jadar Project, Rio Tinto stresses to EWB that it “remains in Serbia and continues to believe that Jadar is a deposit of exceptional quality, with the potential for long-term exploitation and that it can play a significant role in the energy transition of Serbia and Europe”.
“Rio Tinto has been present in Serbia for over 20 years. Our company’s priority now is to retain legal rights over the project. In the coming period, the focus will be to support our employees in the transition process, as well as to continue to fulfil our legal obligations towards the local community as responsible landowners in the Jadar Valley and as good partners to the local community”, the company remarks.
Political organisation Kreni-Promeni (Go-Change), which has been spearheading the campaign against the Jadar project since 2021, declared in today’s statement that this was “another step closer to victory”.
“This means, in practice, that further activities (on the project) will be suspended. They claim that the reason is the lack of progress in issuing licences, so the company, as Bloomberg Adria reports, cannot maintain the same costs and resources for the project”, Kreni-Promeni stated.
They added that “a battle was won, but the war continues”.
“They have not given up, they have just frozen the project and are waiting for the government to resolve the problems in Serbia, which arose due to people’s rebellion in 2021”, the statement reads.
Since 2020, Serbian authorities have intensified efforts to launch the Rio Tinto’s lithium mining project in the Jadar Valley. However, the project has faced massive public resistance across the political spectrum, with critics citing environmental concerns and distrust of institutional safeguards.
Following the first wave of national protests against the project in 2021, the government suspended it, only to revive it in the summer of 2024. However, another wave of protests ensued. There has been no formal progress since, and the project has not received the necessary licenses.
On 4 June 2025, the European Commission recognised the lithium mining Jadar Project in Serbia among 13 new strategic projects related to critical raw materials in third countries.
Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, said at the time that the European Commission’s decision was “great news” and that the Jadar Project would create 20,000 new jobs and raise the living standards of Serbian citizens.
