“I will never be satisfied, because I represent the inhabitants of the city who do not want mining,” said the mayor of Horní Slavkov Alexandr Terek (local).

“But if you drive on rails and with a conveyor belt, that will be the less bad option. But I’m pragmatic, so I know they won’t be banned from mining if they meet all the legal requirements. “, he added.

According to him, the mining permit essentially states the same thing as that set out in the process of assessing the possible impact of the mining plan on the environment.

“This means that they should favor transport by covered conveyor belt and then by rail. It is only when they prove that it is not possible to transport the raw material by a conveyor belt that they can transport the extracted material to the railroad by trucks, “continued the mayor.” And the worst option is that they will not run on the tracks at all, “Terek added.

“Regarding the siding, I have information that the clearance process is underway. It looks like they are going to roll onto the runways,” he said. The newly created avoidance should lie between the local road, leading in the district of Kounice around the old Legios complex towards Kfely, and the settlement of Ležnice. A covered conveyor belt with silent bearings should lead from the mining area to the siding.

“Regarding the conveyor belt, I know there is a catch with a local private landowner,” said Terek, who is trying to find the best possible terms with the investor to start mining. .

Thanks to this, the permit stipulates, for example, that radon, noise, but also dust will be measured, especially in family houses located in Ležnická street near the mining area. Thus, devices for misting, dusting, foaming or watering are to be installed. Vehicle cleaning and mechanization should be provided if they wish to use local roads.

But the most important form of transportation remains. If the conveyor belt and siding cannot be negotiated, the trucks will roll. The license allows it, even if they must be large tonnage, so that few of them drive. Raw materials smaller than four millimeters must be covered with a tarpaulin.

The permit also provides for protected animals, such as ants, short-legged frogs, newts, grass snakes, vipers or common squirrels. The existing pipeline of the Slavkovský stream downstream of the tailings pond must be removed, a new water reservoir must be created on the stream as well as a pond system.

The extraction is expected to last around thirteen and a half years, while a maximum of 360,000 tonnes of raw materials can be extracted each year. Mining is to start from north to south, that is, from Horní Slavkov to Krásno.