The mine is in existence. It has operated in the past. It was...

The mine is in existence. It has operated in the past. It was permitted to be constructed. The mining license has not been to my knowledge, revoked. What is being contested is what happens after the ore is extracted.
The amount of ore extracted has been reduced by sorting and concentrating underground. Tailings have been eliminated by storing them in areas that have been mined. Thus only the concentrate is removed from the mine. This reduced volume needs less area above the surface. If that area is below 10 hectares(??) then no EIA is needed. The area to be used is less than 10 hectares so no EIA. The court has upheld this. Yet there is opposition, some of which reeks of straw clutching.
Once the ore is at the surface, something must be done with it to extract the value. This part does need licenses. In three parts. (1) where the refining will take place, (2) how it will get there and (3) how it will be refined. Stop any of these and there is no mining.

Clearly the refining licenses are going to be a major hurdle in Austria and the EU. This has been solved by moving the process to Saudi Arabia. This solves parts 1 and 3. The only hurdle is the permission to cart the concentrate from the mine to the port. AND deal with the NIMBYs.