December 17 (SeeNews) - British-Australian mining group Rio Tinto plans to invest a total of $450 million (368 million euro) in the development of the Jadar lithium borate exploration and processing project in Serbia, the government in Belgrade said.
Rio Tinto intends to open 2,100 jobs during the first phase of the development of the project that includes the construction of an underground mine and an ore processing facility, the Serbian government said in a press release on Wednesday.
The company is carrying out a feasibility study at the project and has started the process of acquiring land at the site of the future mine, prime minister Ana Brnabic said.
"All our products have a significant role in the process of transition to green economy, and, when developed, the Jadar project will produce lithium, the material of the future, and will significantly contribute to strengthening Serbia's profile as a country that attracts investors," Marnie Finlayson, country head for Serbia at Rio Tinto, said during a meeting with Brnabic in Belgrade.
Jadar, discovered by Rio Tinto geologists in 2004 near the city of Loznica in western Serbia, would be capable of delivering approximately 55,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate, as well as 160,000 tonnes of boric acid and 255,000 tonnes of sodium sulfate as by-products per annum.
The mineral resource of Jadar comprises 55.2 megatonnes of indicated resource at 1.68% lithium oxide and 17.9% boron trioxide with an additional 84.1 megatonnes of inferred resource at 1.84% lithium oxide and 12.6% boron trioxide.
($ = 0.817621 euro)