The proposed exploitation of the Jadar Valley lithium/borate deposit in Serbia, by the Rio Tinto Corporation, indicates that it would become large-scale processing of boron- and lithium-containing ore. It would be one of the world’s very first lithium mines in populated and agricultural area. The company claims that the envisioned mining will be in accordance with environmental protection requirements. The Jadar Valley deposits have been claimed to cover 90% of Europe’s current lithium needs. Yet, local opposition to the mining has arisen due to potential devastating impacts on groundwater, soil, water usage, biodiversity loss, and waste accumulation. Research drilling by the mining company has already produced environmental damage, with mine water containing high levels of boron leaking from exploratory wells and causing crops to dry out. Furthermore, our investigations reveal substantially elevated downstream concentrations of boron, arsenic, and lithium in nearby rivers as compared ...to upstream regions. Additionally, here we show that soil samples exhibit repeated breaches of remediation limit values with environmental consequences on both surface and underground waters. With the opening of the mine, problems will be multiplied by the tailings pond, mine wastewater, noise, air pollution, and light pollution, endangering the lives of numerous local communities and destroying their freshwater sources, agricultural land, livestock, and assets.
TY - JOUR
AU - Đorđević, D.
AU - Tadić, J.M.
AU - Grgur, B.
AU - Ristić, Ratko
AU - Sakan, S.
AU - Brezjanović, J.
AU - Stevanović, V.
AU - Šolaja, B.
PY - 2024
UR - https://omorika.sfb.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/1454
AB - The proposed exploitation of the Jadar Valley lithium/borate deposit in Serbia, by the Rio Tinto Corporation, indicates that it would become large-scale processing of boron- and lithium-containing ore. It would be one of the world’s very first lithium mines in populated and agricultural area. The company claims that the envisioned mining will be in accordance with environmental protection requirements. The Jadar Valley deposits have been claimed to cover 90% of Europe’s current lithium needs. Yet, local opposition to the mining has arisen due to potential devastating impacts on groundwater, soil, water usage, biodiversity loss, and waste accumulation. Research drilling by the mining company has already produced environmental damage, with mine water containing high levels of boron leaking from exploratory wells and causing crops to dry out. Furthermore, our investigations reveal substantially elevated downstream concentrations of boron, arsenic, and lithium in nearby rivers as compared to upstream regions. Additionally, here we show that soil samples exhibit repeated breaches of remediation limit values with environmental consequences on both surface and underground waters. With the opening of the mine, problems will be multiplied by the tailings pond, mine wastewater, noise, air pollution, and light pollution, endangering the lives of numerous local communities and destroying their freshwater sources, agricultural land, livestock, and assets.
PB - Nature Research
T2 - Scientific Reports
T1 - The influence of exploration activities of a potential lithium mine to the environment in Western Serbia
IS - 1
VL - 14
DO - 10.1038/s41598-024-68072-9
UR - conv_1856
ER -
@article{
author = "Đorđević, D. and Tadić, J.M. and Grgur, B. and Ristić, Ratko and Sakan, S. and Brezjanović, J. and Stevanović, V. and Šolaja, B.",
year = "2024",
abstract = "The proposed exploitation of the Jadar Valley lithium/borate deposit in Serbia, by the Rio Tinto Corporation, indicates that it would become large-scale processing of boron- and lithium-containing ore. It would be one of the world’s very first lithium mines in populated and agricultural area. The company claims that the envisioned mining will be in accordance with environmental protection requirements. The Jadar Valley deposits have been claimed to cover 90% of Europe’s current lithium needs. Yet, local opposition to the mining has arisen due to potential devastating impacts on groundwater, soil, water usage, biodiversity loss, and waste accumulation. Research drilling by the mining company has already produced environmental damage, with mine water containing high levels of boron leaking from exploratory wells and causing crops to dry out. Furthermore, our investigations reveal substantially elevated downstream concentrations of boron, arsenic, and lithium in nearby rivers as compared to upstream regions. Additionally, here we show that soil samples exhibit repeated breaches of remediation limit values with environmental consequences on both surface and underground waters. With the opening of the mine, problems will be multiplied by the tailings pond, mine wastewater, noise, air pollution, and light pollution, endangering the lives of numerous local communities and destroying their freshwater sources, agricultural land, livestock, and assets.",
publisher = "Nature Research",
journal = "Scientific Reports",
title = "The influence of exploration activities of a potential lithium mine to the environment in Western Serbia",
number = "1",
volume = "14",
doi = "10.1038/s41598-024-68072-9",
url = "conv_1856"
}
Đorđević, D., Tadić, J.M., Grgur, B., Ristić, R., Sakan, S., Brezjanović, J., Stevanović, V.,& Šolaja, B.. (2024). The influence of exploration activities of a potential lithium mine to the environment in Western Serbia. in Scientific Reports
Nature Research., 14(1).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-68072-9
conv_1856
Đorđević D, Tadić J, Grgur B, Ristić R, Sakan S, Brezjanović J, Stevanović V, Šolaja B. The influence of exploration activities of a potential lithium mine to the environment in Western Serbia. in Scientific Reports. 2024;14(1).
doi:10.1038/s41598-024-68072-9
conv_1856 .
Đorđević, D., Tadić, J.M., Grgur, B., Ristić, Ratko, Sakan, S., Brezjanović, J., Stevanović, V., Šolaja, B., "The influence of exploration activities of a potential lithium mine to the environment in Western Serbia" in Scientific Reports, 14, no. 1 (2024),
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-68072-9 .,
conv_1856 .
