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Rio Tinto Ltd is set to ship a pilot lithium processing plant to Serbia from Melbourne in the coming weeks.

The work, undertaken at a science center on the outskirts of Melbourne, has found a way to economically extract lithium from jadarite, a mineral that has only been found in a Serbian valley.

Rio last week kicked off the $2.4 billion project that will diversify the iron ore, copper, aluminum and specialty minerals producer into a top-ten lithium producer, just as demand from electric vehicle manufacturers is booming.

It’s not a huge mine, but from a lithium perspective, it will be the largest producer in Europe for at least ten years and will bring lithium to market on a large scale.

Four 40-foot containers of equipment will leave in the next few weeks before a nine-week sail.

Construction is expected to begin early next year, subject to environmental approvals, with first production from 2026.

The mine is expected to produce enough lithium to power one million electric vehicles. It will also produce boric acid, used in ceramics and batteries, and sodium sulfate, used in detergents.

Major automakers, such as BMW, Volkswagen and leader Tesla Inc, are looking to diversify supply chains away from dominant producer China.