A MASSIVE protest in Belgrade, Serbia, against the lithium mining project by Rio Tinto and BlackRock.

Thousands of people in Serbia have protested in Belgrade against plans to mine one of Europe's largest deposits of lithium – a crucial raw material for electric car batteries.

The deposits were discovered in 2004, but weeks of mass protests forced the government to halt the project in 2022.

But the government recently made a U-turn on the issue following a court decision last month that said the order to revoke the permits awarded to Rio Tinto was “not in line with the constitution and the law”.

Drone footage here.