Jadarite is a white, earthy

monoclinic In crystallography, the monoclinic crystal system is one of the seven crystal systems. A crystal system is described by three vectors. In the monoclinic system, the crystal is described by vectors of unequal lengths, as in the orthorhombic s ...

silicate mineral Silicate minerals are rock-forming minerals made up of silicate groups. They are the largest and most important class of minerals and make up approximately 90 percent of Earth's crust. In mineralogy, silica (silicon dioxide, ) is usually consid ...

, sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide ( Li Na Si B₃ O₇( OH) or Na₂OLi₂O(SiO₂)₂(B₂O₃)₃H₂O).

Discovery and classification

Jadarite was discovered in December 2004, in drill core from the Jadar Valley ( sr, Јадар, Jadar, pronounced /jadaɾ/) in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

, from which it is named. The find was located southwest of the Cer mountain. Findings were originally located in the villages of Jarebice and Slatina and later in Draginac. Exploration geologists from Rio Tinto Exploration discovered the mineral as small rounded nodules in drill core, and were unable to match it with previously known minerals. Jadarite was confirmed as a new mineral after scientists at the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and the

National Research Council of Canada The National Research Council Canada (NRC; french: Conseil national de recherches Canada) is the primary national agency of the Government of Canada dedicated to science and technology research & development. It is the largest federal research ...

conducted tests on it.'Kryptonite' discovered in mine
BBC News

Commercialization

The mineral discovery may be commercially important because the mineral contains

lithium Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid ...

and boron, both relatively rare industrially important elements. Lithium is used for lithium batteries; boron is used in alloys, ceramic, glasses, and other applications. It was originally estimated that there are 200 million tons of the lithium borate ore, which would make the future Jadar mines one of the world's largest lithium deposits, supplying 10% of the world's demand for lithium. Later on,

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

concluded that lithium supply is closer to 1.51% of world's demand for lithium. Of that, the Lower Jadar ore deposit has 114.5 million tons with an average content of the profitable components of 1.8% of

lithium oxide Lithium oxide ( O) or lithia is an inorganic chemical compound. It is a white solid. Although not specifically important, many materials are assessed on the basis of their Li2O content. For example, the Li2O content of the principal lithium miner ...

and 13.1% of

boron oxide Boron oxide may refer to one of several oxides of boron: *Boron trioxide Boron trioxide or diboron trioxide is the oxide of boron with the formula . It is a colorless transparent solid, almost always glassy (amorphous), which can be crystallized ...

. In May 2017,

Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to: Businesses * Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation ** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada ** Rio Tinto Borax in America *** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, ...

announced that the Jadar area has one of the largest lithium deposits in the world, lifting Lower Jadar's deposits to 136 million tons. The company stated that the ore deposit's

mineral resource estimation Mineral resource estimation is used to determine and define the ore tonnage and grade of a geological deposit, from the developed block model. There are different estimation methods used for different scenarios dependent upon the ore boundaries, ge ...

confirmed the quality of the mineral. Extraction is scheduled to begin in 2023, with a projected underground exploitability of 50 years. A jadarite processing plant next to the mines, which will process the ore into lithium carbonate and

boric acid Boric acid, more specifically orthoboric acid, is a compound of boron, oxygen, and hydrogen with formula . It may also be called hydrogen borate or boracic acid. It is usually encountered as colorless crystals or a white powder, that dissolve ...

, is also planned. The prototype facility has been constructed by the scientists from Serbia, Australia, and USA, and is being tested in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Testing includes the processing of the jadarite concentrate. On 25 July 2017 a memorandum was signed by Rio Tinto and the Government of Serbia, represented by the prime minister

Ana Brnabić Ana Brnabić ( sr-cyr, Ана Брнабић, ; born 28 September 1975) is a Serbian politician serving as the prime minister of Serbia since 2017. She is the first woman and first openly gay person to hold the office. She entered government a ...

, which confirmed the year 2023 as the starting year, but also revealed that only now the working groups will be formed, studies will be conducted, and the process of issuing the permits will begin. The entire enterprise was named "Project Jadar". By 2020, future exploitation of the jadarite and extraction of lithium instigated heated public and academic debate, especially after the Rio Tinto's destruction of the

Juukan Gorge Juukan Gorge is a gorge in the Hamersley Range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, about from Mt Tom Price. It was named by the daughter of Puutu Kunti Kurrama man Juukan, also known as Tommy Ashburton, who was born at Jukarinya (Mt Br ...

in Australia. Environmentalists, local population and some scientists and professors are against it, citing usage of large quantities of water and various acids and other chemicals in the production process, which will contaminate of fertile, arable land, salinize the underground waters and pollute the rivers of Jadar and Drina. Other experts claim that there is no reason not to trust company's claim it will follow the highest anti-pollution measures, that waters are safe and that land is not that fertile after all. The company itself stated it will employ the new, experimental process which prevents pollution and which was tested 2,000 times in Australia. , construction of a mine has not begun. Amidst the growing opposition, Rio Tinto's Serbian branch "Rio Sava Exploration" announced that construction of the mine will begin in 2022, to be finished in 2026. The company claimed it already invested $250 million in the project, with additional $200 million planned for 2021. However, on 20 January 2022 Serbian prime minister Ana Brnabić announced the cancellation of the project, after mass protests organised by ecological organisations in Serbia.

Kryptonite

Jadarite's chemical formula is similar but not identical to the formula ("sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide with fluorine") invented for the fictional substance

kryptonite Kryptonite is a fictional material that appears primarily in Superman stories published by DC Comics. In its best-known form, it is a green, crystalline material originating from Superman's home world of Krypton that emits a unique, poisonous r ...

in the 2006 film ''

Superman Returns ''Superman Returns'' is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris from a story by Singer, Dougherty and Harris based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the sixth and fina ...

''. This coincidence attracted

mass-media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information e ...

attention in 2007, shortly after jadarite's discovery.''Washington Post''
/ref> The new mineral, unlike the fictional material in the movie, does not contain fluorine and does not have a green glow.

References

{{Lithium compounds Borate minerals Borosilicates Lithium minerals Monoclinic minerals Minerals in space group 14 Nesosilicates Sodium minerals