August 17, 2026
Odds and Ends, Travel Notes
Introduction
This week we’re on a road trip through the North Central United States on our way to visit friends and relatives in Southwest Ontario. I posted my last blog entry August 10 when we were in Jamestown ND. That night we were in Eau Claire WI and August 11 we went to Kalamazoo MI. August 12, we re-entered Canada at Windsor ON and visited a friend that afternoon. August 13 to 15 we visited a relative in Meaford ON. August 16 we went to Sault St. Marie ON and I am posting this blog entry on the morning of August 17 before we plan to re-enter the USA at Sault St. Marie MI. I’ll post some pictures at the end of this post.
After last week’s posting I had a comment from Marcus S that I should look into the Jadar lithium project, the mineral Jadarite, and the medieval Serbian mining law. So let’s look at those now.
Jadar Lithium Project
Figure 1 – Jadar Mine,
Serbia
Credit:
The
Assay, 2024
In the last few years, the mining giant Rio Tinto has tried to develop a lithium and boron mine in Mačva District, Serbia: the Jadar project. The deposit is believed to contain a large lithium deposits together with economically recoverable quantities of boron. According to Rio Tinto there are 85.4 million short tons (Mt) of lithium and boron resources at grades of 1.76% Li2O and 16.1% B2O3, with an additional 58.1 Mt of inferred resources at grades of 1.87% Li2O and 12% B2O3.
Rio Tinto’s plan was to recover both lithium and boron from the ore. Currently, the project is under care and maintenance until they can gain permission to proceed with the project. The obstacles to development are significant.
After discovery of the deposit in 2004, Rio Tinto signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Serbian government to in 2017 to develop the mine. After protests by local residents, the Serbian government revoked the development permit in 2022. In 2024, the government announced renewed talks to allow the the project would proceed and came to agreements with the European Union on the project. The result was more protests with protesters vowing: “we will die on this land”.
Figure 2 –
Jadarite
Credit:
Dungodung,
Creative
Commons Attribution
4.0 International license
The Jadar deposit contains the only known occurrence of Jadarite, LiNaSiB3O7(OH). White in colour, it has a dull lustre, a hardness of 4 to 5, a Specific Gravity of 2.45, and a monoclinic crystal system. One of the amusing features of Jadarite is that media have reported that this mineral has a similar composition to the mythical "Kryptonite" of Superman fame. As Mindat.org noted “So far the effects of jadarite on superheroes have not been noted by researchers”.
Figure 3 - Geologic map of
Jadar Deposit
Credit:
Figure 2 in Putzolu et al, 2025
The geology of the Jadar deposit is interesting. The summary of the research article by Putzolu et al, 2025 says:
Jadar Li-B mineralization formed through three ore-forming stages involving volcanic glass alteration, hyperalkaline brine formation, and late remobilization.
Initial alteration produced Li-bearing hectorite-like clays under near-neutral pH from meteoric fluids.
Hyperalkaline conditions and geothermal heat from Miocene granite led to jadarite-dolomite-zeolite assemblage formation and late low-pH fluid remobilization formed late diagenetic ore phases.
Serbian Mining Law
Figure 4 - Illustration XVI
century copy of Mining
Law of Stefan
Lazarević,
Credit:
Unknown author, public
domain.
On 29 January 1412, the Serbian Despot Stefan Lazarević enacted the Mining Law (yes that was his title). This law, or Mining Code, was a compilation of medieval laws on mining in the Serbian Despotate and is considered one of the first laws on mining in Europe. Written by mining specialists, not all of whom were Serbian, many were German Saxons. However they were all part of the same guild.
The law had two parts. One concerned mining regulation and the other dealt with the organization of the town of Novo Brdo. The mining regulation included 51 separate articles including:
The right of ventilation and bringing air through other trenches;
Dispute resolution arising from ore exploitation;
Forming mining companies; and
The purchase and sale of mining property.
These mining specialist were almost certainly part of a medieval guild, of which there were many. The guilds grew out of the chaotic conditions of the Middle Ages and were an attempt provide some security in economic life. Order and stability were prioritized over market efficiency. Thus it is no surprise that members of the mining guild would be concerned with safety regulating the mining industry. It’s a fascinating subject that you might want to follow up on in the links above.
Travel Photos
Here are some photos from our road trip this past week. I’ll show some more from the return part after August 17.
August 12, 2026. Great Lakes Freighter on the Detroit River. The photo was taken in Windsor ON; that’s Detroit MI in the background
August 14, 2026. Tour boat Great Blue Heron at Tobermory ON. We took this on a tour of the islands of Fathom Five National Marine Park.
August 14, 2026. One of the flower pot erosional features at Flower Pot Island, in the Fathom Five National Marine Park. All the bedrock in the park is dolostone, part of the Silurian aged Guelph Formation.
August 14, 2026. Wreck of the Schooner Sweepstakes in Big Tub Harbour at Tobermory. The schooner ran aground on August 23, 1885 and was towed into the harbour September 3 and subsequently sank in September 1885.
August 15, 2026. Georgian Bay from Blue Mountain
August 16, 2026. Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge.
In next week’s posting, I’ll post some pictures from our trip back home.
Standard Caveat
J. Robert Oppenheimer on freedom and scientific inquiry
The purpose of my weblog postings is to spark people's curiosity in geology. Don't entirely believe me until you've done your own research and checked the evidence. If I have sparked your curiosity in the subject of this posting, follow up with some of the links provided here. If you want to, go out into the field and examine some rocks on your own with the help of a good field guide. Follow the evidence and make up your own mind.
In science, the only authority is the evidence.