...and finally, a good article from a year ago, which also...

...and finally, a good article from a year ago, which also contains many interesting things.
Please read the whole article yourself or translate it with Google.
Here are a few excerpts:

https://industriemagazin.at/news/wird-lithium-aus-oesterreich-zukuenftig-in-saudi-arabien-verarbeitet/

Objection still possibleFrom today's perspective, ore mining on the Koralm is scheduled to begin in 2025. According to Wanke, the first battery-grade lithium should be on the market by the end of 2026 or early 2027.
However, the company still has a rocky road ahead of it with the authorities.
This is because it has the right to search for lithium and also the basic right to mine lithium (mining licence).
What is still missing, however, is the concrete mining plan. In this plan, the necessary measures are defined and approved step by step.
The concrete financing plan and some environmental assessments are still pending.
It is also conceivable that neighbours could lodge an objection, leading to years of delays, even if they are ultimately not successful.

Work should start as early as 2013

From the point of view of the mining authority, a project must be approved within six months.

The prerequisite is that it has been submitted in an approvable form.
One year to process an application is more realistic, but also ambitious.
If there are any queries, the process can be delayed accordingly.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In addition, the mining authority is
only responsible for exploration and extraction
- any necessary mining facilities, water permits and transport must be authorised by other authorities
- so the state, district or municipality also have a say.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Should there be a delay, this would not be a new situation for lithium mining on the Koralpe:
when the project was awarded to the Australians in 2011, ore mining was due to begin in 2013