Rio tinto said the Jadar project would produce battery-grade lithium carbonate, a key material for the mass production of batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage, and that the project's capacity would make Rio The largest supplier of lithium in Europe for at least the next 15 years. In addition to lithium, the project will also produce borate, which can be used to make solar panels and wind turbines.
Rio tinto expects the project to start full-scale production in 2026 and reach maximum capacity in 2029, with annual production expected to reach 58,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate, 160,000 tonnes of boric acid and 255,000 tonnes of sodium sulfate, placing Rio tinto among the world's top 10 lithium suppliers.
Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm said in a statement that Serbia and Rio Tinto were in a prime position to take advantage of the opportunity presented by rising demand for lithium, which could supply about one million electric vehicle batteries a year.
The Jadar project will be one of the largest industrial investments in Serbia, with a direct contribution of around 1% of the country's GDP in the future, and an indirect contribution of up to 4% of GDP, taking into account the large participation of local suppliers during construction. Rio tinto expects 2,100 local jobs to be created during construction, and another 1,000 mining and processing jobs will be needed once it is operational.
Rio Tinto has officially entered the lithium market
"This is an important moment for the lithium industry," said Simon Moores, general manager of battery supply chain research firm Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. This marks the first time that large amounts of outside money from a single miner or chemical manufacturer has entered the lithium industry and invested in an entirely new project. "While Rio is expected to produce lithium carbonate at 58,000 tPA, this strategy is usually more aggressive once the product is accepted by battery and electric vehicle manufacturers."
When the Jadar project is in full production, it will account for just under 5 per cent of global lithium supply (compared with about 9 per cent of the lithium carbonate market), according to Benchmark. Benchmark believes Rio can expand the plant to 120,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate a year, a decision that is likely to be made in 2027. Even if the project's products go to market, Benchmark forecasts that the lithium market will still be short of 915,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent by 2029, more than double this year's lithium market gap.
Rio's formal entry into the lithium market opens the door to future acquisitions of hard rock miners, lithium brine miners and chemical producers, Benchmark said. As the world's third-largest commodity giant, Rio is poised for the rise of electric cars. "Other lithium acquisitions are likely to follow in the next few years, given Rio's potential future profits from other commodities, particularly iron ore."
For Rio tinto, which relies heavily on iron ore for revenue, the investment will further help it reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. Traditional mining companies are accelerating their deployment of future-oriented industrial metals such as copper, nickel and lithium as global policy winds shift.
The potential snag for Jadar is that the Serbian government has promised voters a referendum on the project. While acknowledging the economic impact of the project, Serbia is reluctant to be a raw material exporter, preferring to build lithium-ion batteries and even electric cars locally.
