Lithium is very much the metal of the moment as one of the raw materials used for making batteries for electric cars and many other applications for renewable energy. And its high demand and soaring prices look like they could help make the Czech Republic one of the main producers of the metal worldwide, Radio Praha writes.

"...We are very keen to value add within the Czech Republic and there is expertise within the country to assist us in doing that and we would hope that we would be in a position to deliver a product into the entire European electric vehicle market for many years to come. There are battery plants within reasonable proximity, there is a quite large one that Daimler has in Dresden, which is not very far away. We have LG Chemicals which is building one in Poland and Samsung building one in Hungary and one in Vienna, so the demand for electric vehicles and lithium batteries in Europe is increasing. You have various counties talking about banning petrol and diesel cars from their roads from 2025, and some from 2030. I think the demand for electric cars will continue and I think that will be very important for the Czech Republic”, says, in an interview for Radio Praha (in English), Keith Coughlan, Director of European Metals, an Australian and UK listed mining company which is pushing ahead with surveys aimed at renewing mining at the town of Cínovec. 

Read also an interview on Radio Zet (in Czech) with Radek Novák, Analyst of Česká Spořitelna, saying that the Czech Republic is global number one producer of buses per capita, among others. Iveco and SOR Libchavy bus producers make over 4,000 buses a year.