European Metals Holdings Ltd (LON:EMH) has today announced the recent granting of three key permits in the development of the Cinovec Lithium/Tin Project in the Czech Republic.
HIGHLIGHTS
· The Preliminary Mining Permit covering the majority of the Cinovec Project has been awarded by the Czech Ministry of Environment.
· A further Exploration Licence has been granted for the ground immediately south of the main deposit.
· A de-watering permit has been obtained from the Ohře River Authority to pump out the historic workings.
PRELIMINARY MINING PERMIT
As announced to the market on 3 February 2017, the Cinovec South Resource was formally added to the Czech State resource register, which was the first step in the process of the granting of a mining permit. As a next step, the ‘Preliminary Mining Permit’ (PMP) has now been received. The permit covers approximately 1,500,000 m2 of the Cinovec deposit south area (see Figure 1) and is valid until April 2025. The Company has until that date to submit an application for the final mining permit and which it intends to do well before then. The granting of the PMP means that the regulatory oversight for the designated area is transferred from the Ministry of Environment to the Czech Mining Bureau which approves the final mining plan and delimits the final mining space. Both approvals are predicated on the results of an Environmental Impacts Analysis, which the Company has commenced.
ADDITIONAL EXPLORATION LICENCE
The Company has been awarded an additional exploration licence for the ground immediately south of the deposit (see Figure 1). Securing this area allows the Company to begin preparatory geotechnical work for the exploration adit, including excavation of the adit itself when appropriate.
DE-WATERING PERMIT
The historic Cinovec mine was closed in 1989 and the shafts were capped. Since that time, the workings have been partially flooded. The Company has been working with environmental consultants and relevant local authorities to secure the necessary permits to begin de-watering the mine well in advance of commencing operations. The initial permit has been received and the Company will now finalise the de-watering process. The Company aims to de-water the mine as part of the Definitive Feasibility Study to allow detailed geological, geotechnical and hydrological studies of the deposit. Accessing the underground workings will also allow collecting representative samples for pilot scale lithium carbonate production, which will be used to supply potential off-take customers.
European Metals Managing Director Keith Coughlan commented, “It is very pleasing to receive all of these permits and the licence in a clear and timely fashion. As there has been limited commissioning of new mining operations in the Czech Republic in recent times, the time line for the permitting process has not been specifically determined. The awarding of these permits increases our confidence in the future timing of operations and illustrates the support that development of the Cinovec Project enjoys in the Czech Republic.”
(Please refer to the announcement on the European Metals Website for the graphic of Figure 1 – Location of Current Operational Permits Over the Cinovec Project – www.europeanmet.com.)
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON CINOVEC
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Cinovec Lithium/Tin Project
European Metals Holdings Ltd owns 100% of the Cinovec lithium-tin deposit in the Czech Republic. Cinovec is an historic mine incorporating a significant undeveloped lithium-tin resource with by-product potential including tungsten, rubidium, scandium, niobium and tantalum and potash. Cinovec hosts a globally significant hard rock lithium deposit with a total Indicated Mineral Resource of 348Mt @ 0.45% Li2O and 0.04% Sn and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 309Mt @ 0.39% Li2O and 0.04% Sn containing a combined 7.0 million tonnes Lithium Carbonate Equivalent and 263kt of tin.
This makes Cinovec the largest lithium deposit in Europe, the fourth largest non-brine deposit in the world and a globally significant tin resource.
The deposit has previously had over 400,000 tonnes of ore mined as a trial sub-level open stope underground mining operation.
The recently completed Preliminary Feasibility Study, conducted by specialist independent consultants, returned a post tax NPV of USD540m and an IRR of 21%. It confirmed the deposit is be amenable to bulk underground mining. Metallurgical test work has produced both battery grade lithium carbonate and high-grade tin concentrate at excellent recoveries. Cinovec is centrally located for European end-users and is well serviced by infrastructure, with a sealed road adjacent to the deposit, rail lines located 5 km north and 8 km south of the deposit and an active 22 kV transmission line running to the historic mine. As the deposit lies in an active mining region, it has strong community support.
The economic viability of Cinovec has been enhanced by the recent strong increase in demand for lithium globally, and within Europe specifically.
