Local authorities in western Serbia have suspended a plan that would allow the mining company Rio Tinto to operate a lithium mine, after protests by environmentalists that shook the country’s populist leadership.
Rio Tinto has suspended plans to build Europe’s largest lithium mine after sustained protests across the country in opposition to the project.
Thousands of demonstrators blocked major roads across Serbia as anger swelled over government-backed plan to allow mining company Rio Tinto to extract lithium.
The project was permitted without proper consultation or consent from the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe and many other tribes who have ties to Thacker Pass.
Located in Tarapacá region and crossed by the Bolivian border, Coipasa Salt Flat is under dispute since exploration works carried by the Canadian Lithium Chile were rejected by local Aymara communities because of the potential damage on wetlands that sustain both wildlife and cattle (alpacas).
The Chilean government has approved in the middle of the pandemic lithium projects without proper environmental assessment nor FPIC to the Indigeous colla communities affected by these activities.