Rio Tinto mothballs Jadar lithium project in Serbia BloombergThu, 13 November 2025 12:20PM
Rio Tinto has mothballed the controversial $US2.95 billion ($4.5b) Jadar lithium project in Serbia.
An internal memo, sent this week and seen by Bloomberg, said that the project would be placed into “care and maintenance.”
A spokesperson for the world’s second-largest miner confirmed the note’s contents, while declining to comment further.
Jadar – which had yet to reach production – has been dogged by problems in recent years. While the site boasted high grades and an enormous resource of the key battery metal lithium as well as boron, the project was widely opposed by local communities and became the centre of political protests.
Rio’s move comes as recently appointed chief executive Simon Trott focuses on simplifying the sprawling company and cutting down on spending.
“Given the lack of progress in permitting, we are not in a position to sustain the same level of spend and resource allocation,” the note said.
More to come.
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