In the shadow of copper - The price of mining in Serbia | DW Documentary

The small Serbian town of Bor lives from copper mining. Many residents say that high levels of pollution from the mine, which has been majority-owned by a Chinese corporation since 2018, are making them sick.

Resistance is growing in the town Bor in eastern Serbian. Lazar Milutinovic and Marko Andrejevic are members of the student movement that has been driving social change in Serbia for more than two years. Meanwhile, others point to the high levels of heavy metal contamination measured in the area, the high incidence of cancer and the low life expectancy.

Environmental engineer Snezana Serbula has spent her entire professional career investigating the mine’s impact on Bor. One of Serbia’s most prominent critics of mining, she has published numerous scientific studies on the effects of heavy metal emissions on the environment and on human health.

In this report, workers say they were not adequately informed about the possible long-term consequences of mining. Meanwhile, local residents accuse the authorities and the company of a lack of transparency. Lazar and Marko have founded an opposition movement in the town, calling for greater oversight and stricter environmental regulations.

Jasna Tomic lives in the village of Krivelj near Bor. She could soon lose her home: The village, which has been inhabited by the Vlach ethnic minority for centuries, is expected to make way for the mine. Many of her neighbors have already left. Jasna fears she, too, will soon have to relocate. She is fighting to ensure that the village community can at least find a new home together.

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