Serbia's Jadarite Mine Plans Face Local Opposition

Local opposition has stopped mining at Serbia’s Jadarite deposit, despite researchers’ view that it could become a major source of lithium for electric vehicles in Europe. Plans for a mine and processing facility remain controversial, and no one has exploited the deposit. The mineral’s commercial promise is clear. The community response has blocked extraction.

A deposit with a price tag

Jadarite contains lithium in quantities comparable to spodumene, a mineral commonly mined for lithium, as well as commercially valuable concentrations of boron. Researchers believe the Serbian deposit could become a major lithium source because it’s large and the mineral is relatively easy to process.

“There’s nearly a hundred million tonnes of Jadarite in the deposit,” Professor Richard Herrington, a co-author of the research, said. He added: “If mining is given the go-ahead this could be nine tenths of all the lithium Europe needs for its electric vehicles, so it’s pretty substantial.” That condition matters: the deposit remains unmined, and local opposition has kept operations from moving forward.

Researchers say the dispute reflects the challenge of securing raw materials for cleaner-energy technologies while addressing concerns about mining. The source gives no details about the opposition’s demands or organization. But its effect is clear: the mine and processing facility haven’t gone ahead.

From drill core to global attention

Jadarite is a white, powdery mineral with the chemical formula sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide. It isn’t radioactive, and it doesn’t have Kryptonite’s fictional properties. Scientists first discovered it in 2004. It drew international attention in 2007, when they identified its near-match with the fictional mineral’s composition.

The connection began after mining company Rio Tinto sent a drill-core sample from Serbia to Chris Stanley, a mineral expert at London’s Natural History Museum. Stanley searched online using the chemical formula and found the same scientific name on a case of rock containing Kryptonite stolen by Lex Luthor in the 2006 film “Superman Returns.” An Associated Press report published by CBS News also described the connection.

“Towards the end of my research I searched the Web using the mineral’s chemical formula, sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide, and was amazed to discover that same scientific name written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luthor from a museum in the film ‘Superman Returns,’” Stanley said in 2007.

The mineral took its name from the Serbian region where scientists discovered it. At the time, the Natural History Museum said scientists typically identified around 30 to 40 new minerals each year, many found only as tiny grains visible under a microscope.

Rare conditions, contested use

Research led by Francesco Putzolu and colleagues at the Natural History Museum examined why Jadarite is rare and how it formed. Findings published in Nature Geoscience suggest that an unusual combination of volcanic activity and highly alkaline soda lakes created it in the region up to 16 million years ago.

Researchers say those conditions had to occur together. That may explain why they haven’t identified Jadarite elsewhere, despite similar chemical environments in other locations. Understanding how it formed could help researchers search for deposits elsewhere and inform discussions about possible future use.

“We’ve likened it to baking a cake. We need just the right ingredients and the just the right conditions and suddenly this mineral forms,” Herrington said. He said the combination of geological conditions appeared to have occurred by chance. For now, the deposit’s potential as a lithium source sits alongside the fact that local opposition has stalled mining.