Before dawn, after preparing breakfast for her husband, 78-year-old Vukosava Radivojevic went to eastern Serbia to stop trucks from entering an open-pit copper mine that residents say is polluting land and water. walked to guard the barricade in the village of.
Radivojevic has been protesting day and night since January on a small bridge in Crivelli against the control of the surrounding countryside and encroachment on his home by a mine run by a subsidiary of China's Zijin Mining Company. She is one of the 20 women in the group.
The women are fighting to convince the company to relocate their village from what they describe as constant noise, shaking and pollution.
Jijin has already relocated many villagers. However, the majority of those who remain are Vlachs, Orthodox Christians who have preserved their own language and customs for centuries. They want to act as one.
“We have been poisoned, everything has been contaminated, we can no longer grow vegetables, so we have no choice but to close the roads,” Radivojevic said while standing at the blockade. .
Zijin's subsidiary, Serbia Zijin Copper, acknowledged the problem and said it had taken over from a local company when it took over the business in 2018.
Mining in Crivelli began in the 1970s, when Serbia was still part of Yugoslavia. According to residents, sulfur dioxide levels in the air were so high that burnt holes appeared in the women's nylon tights.
Standards have improved since then, but production has quadrupled since Zijin took over, adding to the number of trucks and dust, he said.
Mountains of mining waste have scarred the landscape. A line of orange trucks snakes up a brown valley. According to residents, cracks have appeared in the walls of their homes due to the shaking caused by the underground explosion.
Alexa Radnich, a retired teacher, said the number of school children has dropped by two-thirds as young families have moved in.
The barricades erected in January became a symbol of Crivelli's defiance. Over time, it turned into a second home for the women. The interior was heated by a wood-burning stove and equipped with a television. Neighbors stopped by for snacks and coffee. Sometimes a dog would accompany them.
“One day I was standing in the center of the village and saw trucks driving by one after the other. The small bridge was shaking under their weight,” Radivojevic said. Told.
“And I told my granddaughter we need to do something.”
Mariya Bufanovic, 53, a housewife, was one of the first to erect the barricades. “There is no life here,” she said. “We want to move together.”
Meanwhile, the villagers are discussing where they will end up. Community leader Jasna Tomic said the company is proposing an area near another purple gold mine.
“We also want the new village to be called Crivelli. Of course there is no river there, but we want to move the church, library and school.”
According to a study commissioned by the company and published in December, Crivelli's small river is contaminated with heavy metals. Increased amounts of lead, arsenic and cadmium were detected in the soil.
“The site suffered from severe direct emissions of gas and wastewater, resulting in high pollution of the environment, including air, rivers and soil,” the company said in a statement to Reuters.
It said it has invested more than $100 million to reduce its environmental impact, including improving wastewater recycling.
This week, Tomic said, Jijin agreed to stop driving lorries in the village, a sign that the women are having some success. Residents temporarily lifted the blockade to allow the company to complete some work.