BELGRADE, July 30, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Thousands rallied in towns across Serbia on Monday against the approval of a controversial lithium mine that had been shuttered for two years following mass protests. Serbia has vast lithium deposits near the western city of Loznica, where a mining project being developed by the Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto has been a perennial political fault line in the Balkan country in recent years. Chanting "Rio Tinto go away", hundreds of protesters marched through the streets of Arandjelovac, Sabac, Kraljevo and Ljig. But it has proved unpopular with Serbians worried about pollution, public health and the environmental impact of the project. The lithium deposits near Loznica were discovered in 2004, but weeks of protests forced the government to halt the project in 2022.
