"Serbia Refuses to Update Zijin’s Mining Waste Management Permit" 17 April 2024

Serbia’s Ministry of Mining and Energy rejected a request from China’s Serbia Zijin Mining company for an extension to its permit to manage mining waste .... because Zijin had not filed all required documents and data.

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RERI filed a misdemeanour report with the public prosecution in Bor against Zijin for operating without a valid waste management permit. This was rejected in November 2023 because Zijin had already sought an extension to the permit and because prosecutors assessed that there were no harmful consequences from the disposal of mining waste.

Ljubica Vukcevic, lawyer of RERI, said ... “This economic offence is very serious if we now conclude that the company has been disposing of mining waste for a year and a half without a permit… institutions simply let them dispose of the waste as they dispose, without any guidelines, without a permit, and that for a year and a half a disaster is occurring environment.”