AMG Lithium aims for complete takeover of Zinnwald project

AMG boss: it won't work without political will

A comprehensive review of the current planning will now follow in the next two months, said Scherer. In the following year or two, there will be a phase of further investigations and tests leading to a feasibility study. "We will already have to invest a few million for this." The project has the potential to become part of a strategic European value chain for products that are to be available independently of global market leaders such as China, for example "in the security and defense sector" but also elsewhere.

The German project will not be feasible without funding and political will from the federal government and the EU, believes AMG CEO Scherer, referring to the lithium project on the Czech side. The company Geomet is planning a mining project just a few kilometers away in Cinovec in the Czech Republic. The former Czech government had promised subsidies amounting to 8.8 billion crowns (around 361 million euros). Almost 33 million euros in EU funding was also approved. In contrast to its German counterpart, the project was classified as an EU project for critical raw materials.

In mid-January, Zinnwald Lithium reapplied for this status, said Marko Uhlig, Managing Director of Zinnwald Lithium GmbH, which is responsible for planning the mining project on site. According to EU regulations, such status promises preferential treatment for faster approval procedures. According to Saxony's highest mining authority, the Oberbergamt in Freiberg, the status means additional personnel capacity for processing the matter, but not less strict regulations.

Citizens' initiative sees its criticism confirmed

The Bärenstein citizens' initiative sees AMG Lithium's announcement that it intends to review the scope of the project as confirmation of its criticism. In the past, it had repeatedly warned of encroachments on protected areas and the consequences for people and nature and criticized the project's footprint as being too large. In his own words, Scherer is focusing on openness and a step-by-step approach in dealing with the criticism from local residents. "We want to develop this deposit - and develop it in a way that makes sense for everyone involved," he said. As a company, you are there "to earn money", but you can achieve this goal in different ways. It is now a matter of using the next few years to push ahead with process engineering and approvals and at the same time to build trust in a possible future regular operation in discussions with communities and citizens' initiatives.

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