Serbia has revoked the exploration permit for Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto

"All permits have been revoked. We have stopped Rio Tinto in Serbia," Prime Minister Ana Bernabic said on Thursday.

The decision comes just weeks before Serbia's parliamentary elections in April. Relations between Belgrade and Canberra have also soured recently with Australia's treatment and the deportation of Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic, the world's top men's tennis player who could not compete at the Australian Open, supported protests over the controversial mine.

In December, he posted pictures of protesters and greenery on social media, along with comments written in Serbian such as "Clean air and water are the keys to health" and "Nature is our mother."

In last months, thousands of protesters have taken to the streets, blocking main roads in several cities, including the capital Belgrade and the country's second-largest city, Novi Sad.

They say the development of a large mine near the town of Loznitsa in the western Yadar Valley could cause irreparable damage to the landscape and pollute the region's water supplies.

Rio Tinto previously said that any mining development in the country would meet internal and environmental standards set by the European Union.

At a news confabulation in Belgrade on Thursday, Ms. Brunabic - Serbia's first woman and first openly gay prime minister - said the decision to leave the $2.4 billion (£1.8 billion; £3.3 billion) Jadar lithium mine was taken as a responses to questions from the environment. The project is time to start production in 2027.  Rio Tinto shares fell in Australia following the news and lost more than 4% after the market opened in London.