2021年11月22日

社区正在采用金属和采矿巨头里奥·廷托（Rio Tinto），以停止建造锂矿

在塞尔维亚西部的贾达尔河谷中，社区正在采用金属和采矿巨头里奥·廷托（Rio Tinto），以阻止建造威胁整个地区土地和生计的锂矿。里约·廷托（Rio Tinto）是一家不列颠澳大利亚公司，在英国伦敦和澳大利亚墨尔本拥有联合总部。本文介绍了JADAR项目，锂采矿的目的和影响，以及里约热内卢在世界各地的毁灭遗产。

什么是JADAR项目？

In the early 2000s, Rio Tinto discovered a mineral in Serbia’s Jadar valley which came to be known as “Jadarite“. It is a lithium sodium borosilicate mineral, referred to as lithium and borate in this article. So far, this is the only place on earth where this particular mineral has been found. Rio Tinto tout it as one of the most significant lithium deposits in the world and have been exploring its potential for the last 15 years. The proposed mine in Serbia is expected to supply an estimated 10% of the growing global lithium demand.

据说，贾达尔项目将威胁到洛兹尼亚镇和克鲁帕尼市的15,000多个农业家庭，以及Loznica，šabac和Valjevo社区的健康和福祉。如果他们不出售土地，直接坐在矿场拟议地点的家庭将面临征收。

该项目目前处于可行性阶段（获得许可证，购买土地，完成技术文档），但里约·廷托（Rio Tinto）已经为该开发项目承诺了24亿美元。然后，施工预计将需要四年。里约·廷托（Rio Tinto）预测，该矿山有40年的剥削。

然而，当地人并没有在没有战斗的情况下让它过去，他们将抗议活动带到了里奥·廷托（Rio Tinto）。来自Protect Jadar和Raéevina协会的MarijaAlimpić说：

“当地人的抵抗正在增长，他们的愤怒正在增长。我们准备停止矿山的建造，我们坚信将没有矿山。他们意识到这一点要花多长时间还有待观察。”

锂开采和电动汽车繁荣

Borates, which Rio Tinto plan to extract from the Jadarite, are used in detergents, cosmetics, fibreglass, mobile phones, solar panels and synthetic fertilisers (see Corporate Watch’s report on synthetic fertilisers and climate change here).

Lithium is commonly used in batteries (pretty much anything mobile: phones, laptops, electric cars, e-scooters, bluetooth earbuds, etc.), lubricants, glasses and ceramics, military and medical technologies, pharmaceuticals, nuclear reactors and spacecraft.

然而，对一种锂含量的产品的需求使所有其他产品都相形见war：电动汽车。由于许多人寻求减少对环境的影响，或者不想冒险去汽油，因此电动汽车（EV）行业正在经历繁荣，尤其是在欧洲。电动汽车对传统车辆的补贴和法规的增长也促进了市场。尽管汽车销量总体下降，但2020年电动汽车的销量增长了43％。在欧洲，最大的消费者是德国，主要受益者是雷诺，特斯拉和大众。

里约·廷托（Rio Tinto）将贾达（Jadar）的押金描述为“欧洲汽车行业的门口”。到2030年，欧盟委员会希望将至少3000万辆电动汽车放在欧洲的道路上。根据欧盟的绿色运输议程促进电动汽车，塞尔维亚的贾达尔地区与欧洲和美洲的其他人一样，实际上被标记为“绿色”能源行业的“牺牲区”。

锂是多么“绿色”电池

锂开采的影响本身就是一项重大研究。在这里，我们仅列出了整个地球上行业影响的冰山一角。

锂提取需要大量的水，每吨矿物约500,000加仑。世界上最干燥的地区之一是世界上最干燥的地区之一，世界上，世界上有一半以上的锂资源位于阿根廷，玻利维亚和智利的安第斯地区的盐平底鞋下方。在智利的Salar de Atacama中，锂和其他采矿活动消耗了该地区水的65％，导致地下水耗尽，土壤污染和其他形式的环境退化，迫使当地社区放弃祖先定居点。

在塞尔维亚抵抗矿山的社区对矿山的尾矿感到恐惧。这些是采矿过程中留下的化学物质，岩石和水的有毒残留物。如何处理采矿的许多主要污染影响的帐户（在伦敦采矿网络的解释器中了解更多）。到目前为止，唯一公开宣布的尾矿地点是Radjevina，这将涉及破坏170公顷的森林。该土地是许多受保护物种的家园，附近的村庄取决于其地下水域。

In 2014, one hundred thousand cubic metres of tailings from an antimony mine were released into the Kostajnik River (a Jadar tributary) after a record rainfall triggered floods and landslides. The Serbian Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) found elevated levels of arsenic, lead, copper and zinc in local waterways. The government also reported that 360 hectares of soil were affected by heavy metal contamination. The Jadar valley is a floodplain, and after many decades of experience with pollution from mining in their communities, locals fear the new project would spell disaster.

尾矿部位的化学泄漏可能是致命的。2016年5月，在西藏的Liqi河水中发现了大量的死鱼，该水被中国公司Byd经营的Ganzizhou Rongda锂矿物污染了有毒的化学物质泄漏。牛和牛尸体也被发现在醉酒污染的水后下游漂浮。自由西藏运动产生了一份关于比德的报告和西藏中锂提取的影响。

A number of toxic heavy metals are also needed as components of lithium batteries for electric cars and other consumer goods. One of these metals is cobalt. An investigation into child labour in Democratic Republic of Congo’s cobalt industry revealed that tens of thousands of children were employed in the mines – two years after the publication of a damning Amnesty Internetional report about human rights abuses in the cobalt trade. There are many health risks associated with cobalt mining, including serious lung disease.

在塞尔维亚,当地人已经可以看到损坏的原因d by Rio Tinto’s exploratory activities. The Protect Jadar and Rađevina association says the area is riddled with saline aquifiers, some of which will need to be drained to access the mineral. They claim that the many exploratory drill holes made by Rio Tinto have disturbed the underground waters. Grass and vegetation is no longer growing around the holes, and locals fear contamination of their drinking water. A well in the village of Gornje Nedeljice is reportedly no longer safe to drink from.

里约·廷托（Rio Tinto）的贾达尔（Jadar Mine）也威胁着该地区的重要文化遗产。根据MarijaAlimpić的说法，贾达尔河谷中有50多个史前考古遗址，其中包括一个3500年的墓地，据报道，该墓地站在第二个尾矿废物区域的道路上。

里约·廷托（Rio Tinto）的破坏遗产

塞尔维亚政府声称该矿将为整个国家带来“经济复兴”。但是，鉴于该公司在全球范围内对社会和环境危害的遗产非常长，因此竞选者询问里约·廷托是否可以信任。伦敦采矿网络已详细概述了该公司在世界范围内的影响，包括：

• 蒙古的Oyu Tolgoi黄金和铜矿威胁着土著社区，并继续对干旱沙漠地区的用水进行严重关注。
• 马达加斯加的一个伊尔米特矿山（Ilmenite）污染了当地人钓鱼和收集饮用水的湖泊和河流，其水平的水平分别比世界卫生组织的安全饮用水指南高约50倍和40倍。
• 里约·廷托（Rio Tinto）最近在澳大利亚摧毁了一个拥有46,000年历史的土著地点，以扩大铁矿石矿。
• In Bougainville and West Papua, the company was accused of sidestepping responsibility for the destructive impacts and persisting dangers caused by the Panguna and Grasberg mines, as detailed in the London Mining Network’s 2020 report, ‘Cut and Run’.
• 在过去的26年中，里奥·廷托（Rio Tinto）与矿业巨头巨头必和必拓（Rio Tinto）一起，一直在寻求在亚利桑那州苏必利尔（Superior）附近开发大型铜矿。拟议的矿山将摧毁被称为橡树平坦的宗教和神圣土地，并有可能销毁多达6,000公顷的公共土地。

加拿大Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam和Matimekush-Lac John的第一国Innu社区正处于对Rio Tinto的采矿影响的9亿美元诉讼中。他们说：

“While Rio Tinto is anxious to uphold its image as a model corporate citizen…the Uashaunnuat and MLJ can attest that, in their own experience, these are nothing but empty words. [The company] has undertaken all of its projects without the consent of the Uashaunnuat and MLJ, in violation of our rights”.

Despite its corporate spin, Rio Tinto’s mining activities leave a trail of pollution, exploitation and repression behind them.

Blood on their hands – who is financing the mine?

英国的里约热内卢（Rio Tinto Plc）在Jadar项目中持有100％的权益。里约·廷托（Rio Tinto）是世界上最大的矿业公司之一。这是一家“公共”公司，这意味着可以在伦敦证券交易所购买和出售其股票。结果，它拥有大量股东，没有一个人拥有该公司的大部分股份。最大的单一投资者持有里约热内卢股份的14％是Chinalco，Chinalco是一家巨大的铝制生产公司由中国国家拥有. Market databases show the next biggest shareholders are the giant investment funds Blackrock, Vanguard and Capital, with 11%, 8% and 7% respectively.

Rio Tinto is run by Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm, previously the Chief Financial Officer. He leads the Executive Committee of the company, comprising the managers that head up different Rio Tinto businesses.Click here找出他们是谁。

Stausholm还参加了由Simon Thompson主持的董事会成员。董事会不参与公司的日常运营，而是旨在保证该公司“好”的股东的各种公司大wig。Click hereto find out who else sits on the board and the other corporate appointments they enjoy.

结论

A global shift towards hybrid and electric cars is dependent on lithium batteries and has resulted in a ‘lithium rush’, with several companies, supported by governments, scrambling to exploit lithium deposits around the world. This is ‘green capitalism‘ at its finest. Thriving on the crises of climate change and pressures to phase out fossil fuels, whole new markets are created where corporations can continue to wreck the earth to create ‘ethical’ consumer goods whose exploitative and polluting impacts are hidden thanks to the global nature of the economy.

在抗议活动中，在阿根廷对土著锂开采的一部分，一位手绘标志说“我们不吃电池。他们取水了，生命消失了。”

资料来源：CorporateWatch.com