The next mandate decides on the mineThe company wants to present...

The next mandate decides on the mineThe company wants to present all the documentation to qualify for exploitation before August Jose Luis Bermejo Wheat Caceres | 05·07·23 | 07:00 | Updated at 07:52 The decision on the mine will be decided in the next term in the Board and the city council, the one that comes out of the polls on May 28. The company intends to present during this summer, before August, all the documentation proving the presence of lithium in Valdeflores, as a result of the exploration permit granted in March by the General Directorate of Mines. Also during the summer it intends to deliver all the studies to qualify for the exploitation authorization. From that moment on, the feasibility of this action is decided. The exploration permit was granted for a period of one year, the company would have until March 2024 to present its conclusions, but it will do so beforehand to move on to the next phase: process obtaining the authorization to exploit the deposit. Although the initiative is processed as a business project of regional interest, which shortens administrative deadlines, it is difficult for there to be a resolution within one year. To obtain the exploitation authorization, the company must provide an environmental impact study, which is presented as the key to the final decision, an exploitation plan, a land restoration project with the guarantees that provide guarantees and a document that proves the economic viability of the action. In other previous procedures, and it is understood that in this one as well, all the documentation is submitted to a period of public information, in which all those who do not agree with what is exposed (in this project, due to its volume, the interested party is the entire city) can allege, some claims that in case of dismissal can lead to appeals before the court, which is expected to be. This week the Ministry for the Ecological Transition has sent the company the scope document with considerations that must be taken into account when drafting the environmental impact study. In it, as the Board recalled this Friday, forecasts over time on the use of land and other natural resources must be included, as well as the estimation of the types and amounts of waste generated. It will also have to identify, describe, analyze and quantify the possible effects, direct and indirect, on factors such as the population, human health, flora, fauna, biodiversity, soil, subsoil, air, water, the climate, the landscape, urban planning and cultural heritage, such a broad file in which most administrations will have to report. The decision will depend on this environmental incidence and on the territory and the restoration forecasts. Neither the exploitation project nor the feasibility project will receive major objections. In addition to the regional administration, competent in Mining, you will also need a license from the town hall, an authorization that must be in accordance with the urban planning plan. In Valdeflores it is not possible to dig, the plan prohibits it, but the company argues that this prohibition does not affect the subsoil. And the space that has more options for locating the industrial plant is not protected for development, it does not include industrial use, which would entail a modification of the plan and, if it is processed, perhaps a new review due to the characteristics of a project such as the that is promoted in the Mountain.