RE: Local press in the Czech Republic6 May 2023 16:21
"The prerequisite for starting mining is the completion of the final feasibility study and its results, obtaining financing for the project and securing all the necessary permits," ČEZ spokesman Gazdík answers when asked under what conditions mining would be profitable. "We want to make a decision this year," he adds. At the same time, the fate of the other two lithium deposits in Cínovec and Horní Slavkov also depends on CEZ's decision. Both are former tailings ponds with tailings left over from tin and tungsten mining, so the raw material is already crushed and ground, just like in Chvaletice. These deposits are much smaller than the deep ones, in total they contain about 7.5 thousand tons of lithium ore. However, both could already be mined. The company Cínovecká deponie has a permit to mine at the Cínovecká tailings dump, while the company Sanaka Industry can mine at the tailings dump in Horní Slavkov. Both companies are controlled by RSJ Investments, which until last year belonged to Karel Janeček and currently has a majority stake in Libor Winkler, and it is waiting for ČEZ to decide. Building your own lithium processing plant would not be profitable. "We are currently waiting for the decision of the main player - the ČEZ energy group, which is having a feasibility study prepared," RSJ Investments spokeswoman Vendula Dittrichová confirms. "Our original intention is still valid, namely that we will only invest in deep mining or a lithium carbonate processing plant with a strategic partner," he adds. In addition, Libor Winkler already announced a year and a half ago that his company could completely abandon the project." However, instead of negotiating with Czech colleagues, ČEZ is turning rather across the ridge of the Ore Mountains to Germany, where it is also preparing to extract lithium from the same deposit running under the border "We are interested in cross-border cooperation and coordination. We are negotiating with German partners. We coordinate within permitting processes, for example in the case of seismic and hydrogeology. As for western Bohemia - we are in contact, but nothing specific has been agreed," says the spokesperson of the energy company.
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