Rio Tinto Commits $2.4 Billion to the Jadar Lithium-Borates Project in Serbia
July 27, 2021 at 11:59 am EDT
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Rio Tinto has committed $2.4 billion to the Jadar lithium-borates project in Serbia. The project remains subject to receiving all relevant approvals, permits and licences and ongoing engagement with local communities, the Government of Serbia and civil society. The Jadar project would scale up Rio Tinto's exposure to battery materials, and demonstrate the company's commitment to investing capital in a disciplined manner to further strengthen its portfolio for the global energy transition. Jadar will produce battery-grade lithium carbonate, a critical mineral used in large scale batteries for electric vehicles and storing renewable energy, and position Rio Tinto as the large source of lithium supply in Europe for at least the next 15 years. In addition, Jadar will produce borates, which are used in solar panels and wind turbines. Rio Tinto continues to work with a wide group of local and global experts across all aspects of the environmental, social and governance impacts and has done so for many years. For example, to date it had finalised 12 environmental studies and more than 23,000 biological, physical and chemical analyses of air and water. This consultation is ongoing and will continue to inform the final submissions for approval. The Jadar development will include an underground mine with associated infrastructure and equipment, including electric haul trucks, as well as a beneficiation chemical processing plant. To minimise the impact to communities, it will be built to the high environmental standards, including utilising dry stacking of tailings. This innovative method allows the dry tailings to be progressively reclaimed with vegetation and soil with no need for a tailings dam. First saleable production is expected in 2026 at a time of strong market fundamentals with lithium demand forecast to grow 25-35% per annum over the next decade. Following ramp up to full production in 2029, the mine will produce 58,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate, 160,000 tonnes of boric acid (B2O3 units) and 255,000 tonnes of sodium sulphate2 annually, making Rio Tinto one of the top ten lithium producers in the world. Based on this annual production of lithium carbonate, Rio Tinto aims to produce 2.3 million tonnes of lithium carbonate over the expected 40-year life of mine. The next steps for the project are seeking an exploitation licence and receipt of regulatory approvals. This includes approval of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) studies, which will shortly be made available to the public for comment. The EIA is required for the commencement of works, with construction targeted to start in 2022.
Rio Tinto plc is one of the world's leaders in mining research, prospecting and operating. Net sales break down by family of products as follows:
- iron ore (59%): 283.2 Mt produced in 2022;
- aluminum, alumina and bauxite (24.9%): 54.6 Mt bauxite, 7.5 Mt alumina and 3 Mt aluminum produced;
- copper (5.8%) : 521.1 Kt produced;
- industrial minerals (4.8%): titanium dioxide pigments (1,200 Kt produced), borates (532 Kt produced) and salts (5.7 Mt produced);
- diamonds (1.5%) : 4.7 million carats produced;
- gold (1%) : 235,000 ounces produced;
- other (3%): uranium, silver, zinc and molybdenum.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: the United Kingdom (0.3%), Europe (6.5%), China (54.3%), Japan (7.4%), Asia (7.1%), the United States (15.9%), Canada (3.1%), Australia (1.9%) and other (3.5%).