Mining giant Rio Tinto insists draft environmental impact assessments it has now released early prove its site in Serbia is environmentally safe to extract lithium.
In an interview with DW, Chad Blewitt, the managing director of Rio Tinto's Jadar mine in northern Serbia, said they want to "get out of the disinformation, all the false claims, and have a fact based dialogue."
The project has faced years of intense controversy and protests by Serbians who fear the extraction of a lithium compound will pollute rivers, destroy surrounding farmland, and force people off their land.
"There will be no dangerous goods, no chemicals leaked into the air, water or soil," insisted Rio Tinto's Chad Blewit. "We will never breach Serbian or EU limits. We are 100% confident in the technology in the studies and Rio Tinto's history of developing a large scale underground mine."
"Agriculture can coexist on the surface", said Blewitt. "If you don't just trust that the agriculture is safe, we will buy all the agricultural products you want to sell at market prices. All our workers can eat it. I'll eat it."
Focus has returned to the Jadar mine after Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic used an interview with the Financial Times to suggest "new guarantees" from Rio Tinto and the European Union would be enough for his government to reinstate the Anglo-Australian company's mining permits.
Belgrade revoked Rio Tinto's permissions after........