Cabinet refuses ANO call to cancel lithium memorandum

The cabinet has rejected a proposal from ANO to abrogate a memorandum on the mining of lithium signed last week with Australia’s European Metals Holdings Company. However, the Social Democrat foreign minister, Lubomír Zaorálek, said the government had agreed a measure aimed at boosting the state’s rights to mine other materials.

ANO say the memorandum signed by the Social Democrat-controlled Ministry of Industry sells out the national interest. They warn it could lead to the Czech Republic being involved in an international arbitration case that could cost billions of crowns.

European Metals intends to mine the in-demand mineral at Cínovec in North Bohemia.