Organised crime squad raid offices of state mining company

Officers from the police’s organised crime squad raided premises of the state mining company Diamo on Tuesday. According to the news website Euro.cz, the investigation centres on a public tender procedure to purchase land in Cínovec, north Bohemia for the future mining of lithium.

In October the Czech prime minister, Andrej Babiš, said Diamo should become actively involved in a project to mine lithium at Cínovec. This followed reports that the Australian firm European Metals Holdings had acquired permission from the Czech authorities to begin test drills.

The Czech state had signed a memorandum with European Metals Holdings on exploiting the mine but that was abrogated by Mr. Babiš’s government.

Author: Ian Willoughby