Minister Handanovic: Germany is determined to develop lithium projects, Zinnwald is similar to Jadar

Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said today that the visit to the Saxon Mining Office in Freiberg and the meeting between President Aleksandar Vucic and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz are important in order to exchange knowledge and experience regarding mining projects and environmental protection.

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She also said that Germany has shown determination to develop lithium projects.

"Yesterday we attended a presentation of the lithium mining plan as part of the Zinnwald Lithium project in Freiberg, we spoke with the dean of the mining faculty who visited our country before and we had the opportunity to hear their experts and plans for opening a lithium mine. We realized that we are not that far apart in terms of laws and regulations and we discussed how we can learn from them, and have our experts trained in Freiberg and exchange knowledge," Djedovic Handanovic said, according to her ministry.

The minister added there are similarities between this mine and the Jadar project in terms of the depth of excavation and the strength of the rocks, as well as that during the visit they had the opportunity to see Germany's determination regarding the development of lithium projects.

"You must develop new technologies and go towards technological progress. These were once fossil fuels, but today it's about critical mineral raw materials such as lithium, copper, zinc and others. It is up to us to make the best use of the natural resources at our disposal, to make it sustainable, according to the highest standards, because we all live in this country, as do our children," she said.

She pointed out that the Serbian delegation in Freiberg included Petar Filipovic from Gornje Nedeljice, who does not support the Jadar project.

"President Vucic spoke directly with citizens in Ljubovija for hours and then publicly promised Petar Filipovic, who is not in favor of the Jadar project, that he would invite him to visit Germany in order to learn about their plans. He laughed at the time. he thought that nothing would come of it, but yesterday he sat at the table with the chancellor, the experts, the director of the lithium project Zinnwald and asked questions. We saw that there are inhabited places in the vicinity of the mine, that there is discussion with the local population, that people do agriculture nearby, that there are wind farms, solar power plants and that everyone is aware of the necessity of the green transition and critical minerals," said Djedovic Handanovic.

According to her, there is active dialogue among those who live there.

"We conduct it with those who want to hear how something can be done, without being against the project in advance. We spoke about plans to create conditions in Serbia for people to get jobs, to create new opportunities, which is what we want to do with this project. It's easy to say that something cannot and should not be done, but the question is how to achieve something that is sustainable, from which everyone will benefit, to develop our country by implementing best practices," said Djedovic Handanovic.

(Telegraf Biznis)