January 21 (SeeNews) - Companies owned by Slovenian businessman Andrej Rautner have registered a lithium exploration and mining enterprise in Bosnia, local media reported.
The new company, Rudnik Litijuma, will seek a concession for prospecting for lithium deposits in the eastern part of Bosnia's Serb Republic, near the border with Serbia, news outlet Capital.ba quoted Andrej Rautner as saying on Wednesday
"We will try to work in mining if we get concessions. Everything is at an early stage, the company is just a month old," Capital.ba quoted Rautner as saying.
The Slovenian businessman did not disclose the precise location but deposits of lithium - a metal used for production of storage batteries that power electric vehicles, have been discovered in the Jadar region in western Serbia, close to the border with Bosnia. Apart from the Drina river basin where Jadar is located, lithium can be found in Bosnia's northeastern Ugljevik, Domaljevac, Samac, as well as in central Bosnia, the media report read.
The Jadar lithium ore deposits, 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.
Rudnik Litijuma was established by five companies - Ar Plane, R Mercuri, and The H from Slovenia, as well as AR Plane and Yolle Top Invest from Bosnia, with a founding capital of 11.8 million marka ($7.3 million/6 million euro), Capital.ba reported.
Lithium demand might increase eight-fold in the next 11 years, as the number of electric vehicles running on lithium batteries is rising, according to the news outlet.
The Serb Republic is one of two autonomous entities that form Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other one is the Federation.
(1 euro = 1.95583 marka)