The mayor of Valjevo, Lazar Gojkovic, confirmed that lithium and boron research has been carried out in this area, with periodic interruptions, since 1997. Asked what her knowledge was about previous research in the field and the alleged intentions of a Canadian company to open a surface mine of lithium and boron near Valjevo, Minister Irena Vujovic said that there was no request addressed to the ministry she heads. The local board of the DS, on the other hand, claims that the exploitation of the ore will begin, according to their information, as early as 2025.
“I have heard about it, but for now there is no request, on that occasion, sent to the Ministry of Environmental Protection,” said Irena Vujović, Minister of Environmental Protection in the Government of Serbia, in Valjevo, answering a journalist’s question about her knowledge of previous research in the field and the intentions of the Canadian company Euro lithium to open a surface mine of lithium and boron in the valley of the river Kolubara. The Minister also said that it was all speculation now and that the Ministry of Environmental Protection had not yet received a request for a Strategic Environmental Assessment.
On that occasion, the Mayor of Valjevo, Lazar Gojkovic, confirmed that lithium and boron exploration has been carried out in this area, with periodic interruptions, since 1997, but about the further fate of that exploration and the possible opening of lithium and boron mines in the Kolubara district. On the occasion of unofficial information about the intentions of the Canadian company, the City Board of the Democratic Party held a press conference in Valjevo. The first man of the Valjevo Democrats, Zoran Jakovljevic, said, according to the information obtained by their party, that the plans of the Canadian company Euro Lithium are to start with the exploitation of ore as early as 2025.
“According to the information available so far, the private Canadian company Euro Lithium conducted its research at 32 locations in the Valjevo area. In the area of 16 km2 near the road Valjevo-Lajkovac, along the river Kolubara, large reserves of lithium and boron, about seven million tons of lithium carbonate and 60 million tons of ore from which it is possible to extract boron, which they claim are currently the richest in the world,” said Zoran Jakovljevic and added that the average depth at which the ore was found was 275 meters and that the Canadian company plans to exploit this ore by opening a surface mine. Jakovljevic emphasized that it is important for the citizens to know how that mine will affect the nature of its area, agricultural land, groundwater and surface water, the air they breathe, which is already too poisoned.
Valjevo lawyer Sreten Djordjevic, a specialist in the field of environmental protection, says that Valjevo is formally in a better position than Loznica, where the opening of a lithium mine has entered the procedure… Because we have the opportunity to get involved in proceedings to challenge the investment in the city area and demanded a ban on opening lithium and boron mines, he said.
“We have the space to ask for a Strategic Environmental Assessment and the adoption of the Spatial Plan of the special purpose area. Now is the right moment to mobilize all intellectual forces and potentials of Valjevo, to mobilize the local parliament – if it cares about the interests of its citizens, it can pass a resolution banning the construction of lithium mines and a metal processing complex on our territory,” Djordjevic said.
Lawyer Djordjevic is explicit in claiming that the ecology here is on a par with the protection of health and life, that this is about the survival of the people in the area of western Serbia, from Valjevo through Loznica and downstream on the Drina.
“Every house in Valjevo is potentially endangered, as well as the health and life of every Valjevo resident. Everything is endangered to such an extent that if these projects are realized, it will probably remain a desolate country,” Djordjevic concluded, N1 reports.
Source: serbia-business.eu
