Green activists have set up several tents in front of the Serbian presidential palace, demanding a nationwide ban on lithium mining and exploration. The license for a major project that was recently cancelled is likely to be restored after the general election in April.

The demonstration echoed rallies in Belgrade and other major Serbian towns over the past two months that eventually affected the government's cancellation of exploration licenses for Rio Tinto's $2.4 billion Jadar lithium mine.

The protesters also attacked efforts to accelerate the change of ownership of state-owned and private mining projects. This anger forced President Alexander Vucic (Aleksandar Vu "I") to send the bill back to parliament for revision.

"if all mining projects with exploration licenses issued by the government are approved, Serbia will cease to exist." Said Now Zlatko Kokanovic, a farmer from Gornje Nedeljice. He pointed out, "this country will become a colony of large foreign companies. We should not be ecological refugees."

The price of lithium, the key to making batteries for electric cars, hit a record high last year, adding to concerns about supply.

From Tesla to Volkswagen to Toyota, the world's top carmakers need a growing supply of battery materials to accelerate the promotion of electric vehicles, and experts expect battery metal demand from the industry to account for nearly 3/4 of their consumption by 2030. compared with 41 per cent in 2020.

Experts say the world lithium shortage was predicted to last for at least another three years, but with the cancellation of the Jadar project, the current shortage will last for several years.

Saul Kavonic, an analyst at Credit Suisse, said in January: "We are now at a time when the supply of lithium will determine the speed of the promotion of electric vehicles."

The Jadar project was originally one of the largest foreign investments in Serbia as part of official efforts to attract investment and promote economic growth. The government's goal is that mining accounts for 4-5 per cent of Serbia's GDP in less than a decade, a significant increase from the current 2 per cent.

At full capacity, the mine is expected to produce 58000 tons of refined battery-grade lithium carbonate a year, making it the largest lithium mine in Europe.