European lithium supply has evaded the spotlight in recent years. Exploration activity has focused on Canada, Australia and the USA.
While much debate has centered on brine and spodumene lithium sources,
Rio Tinto Minerals has been developing a different lithium deposit based on a newly discovered mineral, jadarite in the eastern European country of Serbia.
Serbian and American geologists working for the company found the deposit in 2004 near the town of Loznica. They discovered the mineral jadarite in 2007 and Serbia’s Jadar basin is the only place in the world where the mineral is located.
Jadarite shot to fame when discovered as it had the exact chemical composition as the fictional mineral kryptonite from...