Sustainability
Delivering sustainable power to the people
Since inception, European Metals has held a vision of supplying power to the people in a sustainable manner. This vision drives the Company’s strategic decision-making and is reflected across our Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) profile. As European Metals progresses the Cinovec project, these ESG principles will continue to guide the company and ensure the project will remain sustainable for generations to come:
Historic mine location
Cinovec is a historic tin-tungsten mine located in a region which has supported mining from as early as the fourteenth century. The redevelopment of the site requires minimal environmental impact on the rehabilitated ground and offers considerable environmental advantages when compared to any new mining development.
Strong community support
Cinovec is located in a historic mining district and enjoys significant support in its partnership with the local community. There is a clear understanding that the project has the potential to empower local residents, offering employment as well as the ability to build skills, furthering knowledge which has been held in the region for generations.
Local supply chain
European Metals’ activities are in close proximity to both battery manufacturers and battery end users, such as EV producers. Close proximity and access to facilities such as grid power and rail means Cinovec has a substantial environmental advantage when compared to overseas lithium operations. These operations require long haul shipping which is CO2 intensive and additionally use significant energy transporting a high proportion of waste by-product material.
A key ingredient in batteries
Lithium is a necessary component of batteries such as those used in electric vehicles. The development of the Cinovec lithium project assists the European market develop these batteries in a more cost-effective manner and also reduces the overall demand for fossil fuels.
Electric mining fleet
Reducing CO2 emissions is a major goal for European Metals’ ESG vision. The Company is able to progress towards this goal by not only producing lithium but also by conducting operations in a sustainable manner. The Company is continuing to investigate ways to electrify its operations and proposes to conduct all mining with an entirely electric fleet.
Simple ore body
Some lithium projects around the world require considerable energy and harsh chemicals, but not so at Cinovec. The Cinovec material requires only one roasting process at relatively low-heat and is able to utilise recycled water and benign reagents. This simple metallurgy is a key factor helping make Cinovec more sustainable.
Our sustainability strategy
In 2021, we launched our first formal, integrated ESG strategy. This strategy commits us to adopt high standards (going beyond just legal requirements) across a broad range of ESG issues. Our goal will be to achieve consistent, high-quality social and environmental performance across all our operations and to increase our stakeholders’ knowledge of how we work.
To improve transparency, European Metals has introduced a platform which provides quarterly ESG updates. The platform outlines our ongoing progress using a variety of metrics and indicators which the Company can be objectively measured and compared against.
The Company’s ESG baseline dashboard report is available for public viewing.