While many people in Serbia have been protesting for weeks against a possible lithium mine in Jadro for fear that it could destroy the environment and people's health, the search for this whitish alkaline metal at the world level is not abating.
Somewhat paradoxically, the European Union needs lithium precisely because of the "green transition" in order to reduce the impact of the economy on climate change.
Due to the wide application in the automotive industry that wants to be more environmentally friendly, many countries like Germany are working to produce and process lithium domestically.
"There is currently no lithium mining or processing in Germany, but at least three projects have been developed and will begin production in the near future.
"Processing, for example, will start at the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025," says Michael Schmidt, a geologist at the German Mineral Resources Agency, DERA.
AMG lithium refinery, one of the largest in Europe, could start processing lithium in eastern Germany this year.
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Lithium in rocks and groundwater
The other two, "advanced" projects in Germany are dedicated to the production of lithium, says the geologist in a written answer for the BBC in Serbian.
One is a project by Vulkan Energy Resources in the Upper Rhine Basin, in the southwest of the country, where lithium could be extracted from groundwater.
The second deposit is in Rudni gore, on the border with the Czech Republic, where lithium is in solid rocks, and the project is managed by the Cinvlad company.
These are not the only lithium researches in Germany, but they are the most developed.
"Obtaining lithium from deep geothermal brines will be a 'by-product' of heat and electricity production and is therefore associated with challenges related to these technologies.
"Lithium extraction from Rudna Gora will be more traditional mining," says Schmidt.
Near the German town of Cinvlad and the Czech town Cinovec, close to the interstate border, work is underway on a lithium mining project in the very heart of the European chemical and automotive industry.
"All projects are subject to strict requirements to comply with environmental and safety standards defined by German laws and regulatory institutions," adds the geologist.
The Cinvladj company previously predicted that it would initially produce 12.000 tons per year, and in July announced that they will produce significantly more between 16 -18.000 tons.
Zinwald thus became the second largest lithium extraction project from hard rocks in the European Union (EU) and the third in Europe, it added.
A lithium project is also being developed in the Upper Rhine basin in the southwest of the country.
Residents of this area are afraid of the expansion of the project, because ten years ago during the examination of geothermal sources, the ground trembled, the website wrote last year. Politico.
In the meantime, technology has advanced and the company Vulkan Energy, headed by Australian and German geologists, wants to be the first to obtain lithium "from zero carbon dioxide", which would make the dream of completely green electric cars come true.
"That's why we don't use hot water only as a source of energy, but use a unique process of filtering lithium from cooled water.
"The thermal waters are then returned to the underground reservoirs in a closed circular system," it is stated on company website.
The large, 300-kilometer-long reef on the stretch from Basel to Frankfurt contains sedimentary reservoirs of geothermal lithium reserves and is one of the largest such deposits in Europe, the website says. Vulkan Energies.
"Technologically, it is already possible to drill that deep and extract lithium from geothermal sources, but the question remains whether it makes sense economically and ecologically," Šmit said at the beginning of 2023 on the occasion of this project.
Today, he is slightly more optimistic.
"As far as we know, it is still developing although some milestones have been made, there is a pilot project and tests for (lithium) extraction going on."
"Based on what is written on their website, they made a plan to make the project profitable and ecological," says Schmidt.
This company recently started production of lithium chloride, which is a step closer to the production of lithium hydroxide used in batteries.
It is a turning point because for the first time "lithium arrived from Germany, from a source under our feet," said the company's director in April, reports Reuters.
Both advanced lithium projects in Germany are being developed by young exploration companies, and state agencies are involved in the permitting process.
However, since it is the price of lithium products fell in the last three years, it is increasingly difficult to find investors.
"Mining projects face the same challenges all over the world, regardless of individual countries, and the global challenge is financing," says Schmidt.
'There is always an impact on the environment'
Europe is heavily dependent on China for lithium, key in the production of batteries for electric cars and mobile phones, and it aims to change that.
"At the moment, 20 lithium research projects are being worked on in Europe and they are at different stages.
"They are most advanced in Serbia, France, Finland, Portugal, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria," says the German geologist.
The goal of most European projects is to start production between 2026 and 2032, he adds.
"However, it is difficult to say which of these projects is more developed because they differ in size, ownership, locations and legal frameworks," explains Šmit.
Serbia is not the only country where people protest against such projects, because lithium mines and ecology rarely go together.
I Portugal, currently the only European lithium producer, faced protests from disgruntled locals in the vicinity of the mine.
"Mining and production of raw materials will always have an impact on the environment.
"That's why it is the responsibility of the local authorities in these specific areas to follow the laws and regulations as well as to monitor the development (of the projects)," says Mihael Schmidt, answering the question of whether lithium can be produced ecologically.
"It should be in the interest of all stakeholders to minimize environmental impact."
The case of Serbia
The Rio Tinto company's project in the west of Serbia is discussed in the latest report the German agency DERA as one of the scenarios for supplying Europe with lithium until 2030.
"Political events in Serbia should also be carefully monitored," this document states.
"Currently, it is not possible to predict whether and to what extent the mining company Rio Tinto will be able to further develop the Jadar project, which is important for lithium and boron.
"Due to its scale, the project itself would be very large in terms of potential supply to the European market," the German agency's report reads.
The Rio Tinto company "published publicly available information and data related to environmental issues (water use, waste disposal, land use, etc.) and obtaining permits," recalls Schmidt.
"We are not familiar with the specific details and laws and procedures in the country, however state agencies and institutions will be responsible for overseeing this project as well as other projects in the country.
"This needs to be done in accordance with the rules and regulations, as well as the standards of all interested parties," says Schmidt.
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However, he diplomatically answers the question of whether he would support a project like Jadar in Germany.
"To reduce Europe's dependence on imports of critical raw materials, it is imperative that potential European sources are found, developed and exploited.
"It would also help to reduce the environmental impact during production, as materials would not have to travel long routes, for example."
Since the memorandum between Serbia and the European Union on critical raw materials was signed, when German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Belgrade, it is often mentioned that the interest of Germany and especially its automobile industry is to produce lithium throughout Europe.
Šmit points out that "it doesn't make much sense to look at it through individual countries".
Since the demand for lithium, according to forecasts, will increase several times by 2030 compared to 2021, it is important to reduce Europe's dependence on imports, he says.
"Mining and production in Europe will benefit the whole of Europe, not just individual countries," the geologist points out.
According to the study Karlsruhe Institute of Technology domestic geothermal sources can meet perhaps 13 percent of the annual needs of the German lithium battery industry.
How is the world?
The production of lithium, as well as lithium batteries, is not globally widespread, but is carried out in certain places in the world.
- Most lithium comes from Australia mainly from rocks.
- Then comes Chile with 25 percent and China with 13 percent of the world's lithium production.
- The only country where lithium is produced in Europe is Portugal with one percent, mainly for ceramics.
- China produces the most lithium batteries - 76 percent.
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