ČEZ will make decision about whether to mine lithium by 2023, says company director

Czech energy conglomerate ČEZ will make a decision regarding whether to mine lithium deposits in Czechia commercially by 2023, ČEZ CEO Daniel Beneš announced on Wednesday. He said that mining would then start two years later. The final version of the company’s lithium mining feasibility study should be finished by May of next year.

The announcement was made in a cement factory in the village of Čížkovice in North-West Bohemia, where a new research centre of the Prague University of Chemistry and Technology is currently studying lithium mining methods.

Around 3 percent of the world’s lithium reserves lie in the area below the West Bohemian village of Cínovec, with two thirds of the deposits found on Czech territory and the other third on German land. Lithium is an important component in automobile batteries and the Czech government has already announced plans to construct a 30GWh gigafactory for car batteries.