{"id":9061,"date":"2024-03-15T01:26:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-15T01:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/?p=9061"},"modified":"2024-03-15T01:26:04","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T01:26:04","slug":"the-discovery-of-lithium-in-bosnia-sparks-both-hope-and-concern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/?p=9061","title":{"rendered":"The discovery of lithium in Bosnia sparks both hope and concern."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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LOPARE: In the rolling hills of northeastern Bosnia, the local community is torn between fears of environmental destruction and hopes of riches from vast deposits of critical minerals that Europe needs for its green transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The area around Lopare is home to an estimated 1.5 million tons of lithium carbonate, 94 million tons of magnesium sulfate, and 17 million tons of boron \u2014 substances used to make everything from electric cars to wind turbines and electronics.
The potentially game-changing deposits could be a rare boon to this poverty-stricken corner of southeastern Europe, where Bosnia\u2019s economy has largely stagnated after a devastating war in the 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik called the project \u2013 which would be located in the Serbian state \u2013 \u201can opportunity for development that we should not miss\u201d.
But simmering local opposition to what would be a sprawling open-pit mine has threatened to halt the project, with some worried about the potential impact on the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lopar City Council voted against the project in December. \u201cMore than 90 percent of residents are against it,\u201d Lopare Mayor Rado Savic said. \u201cPeople are afraid of the release of toxic materials,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are clear, we do not want such a mine here.\u201d Environmental groups have launched a petition against the project.
\u201cEverywhere in the world where there are these kinds of mines, sooner or later there is also groundwater and air pollution,\u201d said Snezana Jagodic Vujic, head of the local environmental association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In neighboring Serbia, mass protests over Rio Tinto\u2019s lithium mine near the Bosnian border prompted the government to revoke permits for the multibillion-dollar project in 2022.
Vladimir Rudic, director of the Bosnian branch of Swiss mining company Arcore AG, accused opponents of the Lopar project of \u201csowing panic\u201d. \u201cOperating conditions will be absolutely controlled,\u201d he told AFP.
Arcore hopes to break ground in this area by 2027. \u201cThis is an extremely interesting amount of raw materials for the European Union supply chain,\u201d Rudic said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company said the mine would have annual sales of one billion euros ($1.1 billion) and create 1,000 direct jobs and more than 3,000 indirect jobs.
The project aims to export around 10,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate annually by 2032 \u2013 which experts say is enough to produce 150,000 to 200,000 rechargeable batteries.
The EU is currently dependent on China for 97 percent of its magnesium needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the EU phasing out new fossil fuel cars by 2035, Europe hopes to be able to extract 10 percent of critical raw materials from its soil by the end of the decade.
Bosnia is a candidate for joining the EU.
Lopare is a \u201clow grade\u201d lithium deposit, but remains \u201cinteresting\u201d, Rudic said, adding that the greater presence of magnesium and boron guaranteed the future \u201cstability of the mine\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arcore hopes to secure the rights to operate the concession for 50 years, but has yet to obtain the necessary permits from Bosnian authorities.
An environmental impact study must be prepared before any operation begins, along with a period of consultation with the local population.
But for resident Jovan Jovic \u2013 an unemployed pharmacist from Lopare \u2013 his opinion is likely to change little. \u201cThe city will be covered in a huge layer of dust, not to mention the impact on groundwater,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Milivoje Tesic, a 63-year-old Bosnian Serb war veteran, went further, pledging to \u201cphysically defend\u201d his country against landmines. \u201cIf we become Kuwait, then fine,\u201d Tesic said. \u201cBut show me an example of a foreign investor coming into a country and making progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tags: Arcore AGBOSNIABosnian Serb leader Milorad DodikCHINAdirector of the Bosnian branch of Swiss mining company Arcore AGElection 2024EUROPEGazaHead of the local environmental associationIMRAN KHANISLAMABADIsraelLOPAREN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOPARE: In the rolling hills of northeastern Bosnia, the local community is torn between fears of environmental destruction and hopes of riches from vast deposits of critical minerals that Europe… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":9062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,16],"tags":[199,200],"class_list":["post-9061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-technology","tag-bosnia-embassy-pakistan","tag-bosnia-lithium"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9061"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9063,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9061\/revisions\/9063"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}