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Is Jadar the Balkan Panguna and Loznica our Bougainville? Or did “Rio Tinto” learn an ethics lesson after destroying the ancient Aboriginal caves? Will Serbian lithium actually be excavated in accordance with the rules that protect the environment, or will the fears of the people of Loznica about ecological catastrophe come true?
The representatives of this mining company affirm that Serbia will prosper with “Rio Tint”: the investment in the vicinity of Loznica is worth so far 450 million dollars. New jobs will be created, world-class lithium will be produced, used for electric car batteries, and most importantly, all measures to protect the environment and human health will be adhered to. All this is repeated in the Government of Serbia. After a recent meeting with representatives of the “Rio Tinto” company, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić described “Jadar” as a project of exceptional importance.
Can Rio Tinto be trusted? Citizens of Bougainville, a Pacific island that voted for Papua New Guinea’s independence last year, would have a say. Its fate is related to the Pangun Mine, once one of the largest and richest copper and gold deposits in the world, which was managed by this British-Australian company. Although mining at Panguna ended 31 years ago, after disputes over mine profits and environmental damage led to a decade-long civil war that killed some 20,000 people, the consequences are still being felt. The mine shaft has left a deadly legacy for the residents: polluted water flows unhindered into local rivers, those who live in the valleys suffer wounds and skin lesions, have respiratory problems, pregnancy complications … Monsoon rains push large amounts of polluted sand and tailings into rivers, destroying forests and agricultural land, because the mine was closed overnight and without rehabilitation.
As for “Rio Tinta”, this story ended in 2016, when 53% of the company’s stake was handed over to the government of Papua New Guinea and the autonomous government of Bougainville. Environmental experts have evaluated the move as part of Rio Tinta’s deliberate corporate strategy to get rid of high-risk, high-liability projects.
Even before that, this mining company had problems with its image: it remembers how ore from Franco’s Spain went to Germany and Italy, where it was later used to make weapons. He has not forgotten the uranium from Namibia dug under the occupation of South Africa, which was ruled by apartheid. And this year, due to the expansion of coal mines, they demolished caves from the last ice age in Western Australia. Thus, the 46,000-year-old Aboriginal cultural heritage was destroyed, which contained the oldest known examples of bone tools in Australia, a 28,000-year-old sharpened kangaroo bone and a 4,000-year-old braid of hair. The explosive was activated on Reconciliation Week, a holiday that commemorates the injustice inflicted on the Aborigines, and it was soon announced that the expansion of the mine was done in accordance with permits issued by local authorities.
And can the Serbian authorities guarantee that “Rio Tinto” will operate in accordance with ethics and environmental regulations? Those who know the history of this company doubt it, but also those who follow the results of the government in the fight for a better environment. Although it has been announced several times, the legislation that would prohibit the construction of small hydroelectric plants in protected areas has not yet been amended, nor has a commission been established to review the work of existing ones. All the credit for the current lower interest in SHPPs goes to activists who, like guerrillas, pulled pipes from rivers, clashed with investors, often in violation of the law. Although the issue of air pollution was the reason for convening emergency government sessions last year, the Environmental Protection Agency has improved its quality by softening the evaluation criteria. This is how the air that until yesterday was polluted has now become acceptable.
Hence the suspicion that Serbia, through the “Jadar” project, achieved something worthy of destroying 2,000 hectares of land and erasing entire ecosystems. The experiences of others have shown that these companies take away the wealth, leaving only crumbs. While “Rio Tinto” boasts a unique example of technology, which has not been used anywhere before, the people of Loznica fear that what was tested in the lab will work in practice and that “Jadar” will become a poisonous scar in the landscape of Macva.
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