Germany’s Chancellor plans lithium deal with Serbia after Rio ruling
Olaf Scholz plans to visit Serbia this week to secure supplies of lithium that are critical for the nation’s energy transition and auto industry.
Major miners are trying to avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in closure costs by selling off pits, as cash is tight due to a prolonged commodities price slump, but the crippling cost of environmental rehabilitation makes it tough to seal deals.
In a cautionary tale, China’s MMG Ltd had to hike its estimate of closure provisions more than 60 percent to $378 million for Australia’s largest open-cut zinc mine, Century, just months before digging its final ton last year as the reality of what would be involved became clearer.
