Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by Alexa Meyer
00:18 Thomas Dittrich, Chief Geologist at Zinnwald Lithium
00:58 Marko Uhlig, Zinnwald Lithium CEO
02:13 André Barth, Deputy Mayor of Altenberg 
03:21 Marko Uhlig, Zinnwald Lithium CEO

Script:

Deep in a mine, iron ore rocks glisten.. It's a sign they contain lithium. Geologist Thomas Dittrich has been taking rock samples for years.

+++ SOT Thomas Dittrich, Chief Geologist at Zinnwald Lithium +++
"We've been able to show that all-in-all we have 193 million tons of so-called "measured indicated" ore ressources here.. One third is in Germany, two thirds on the Czech side."

00:36
This is Marko Uhlig...he wants to extract what's held here. The CEO of Zinnwald Lithium, a privately-held company,  wants to start work in 2030.. with extracting 18,000 tons a year,and then more than 28,000 tons. 

+++ SOT Marko Uhlig, Zinnwald Lithium CEO +++
"We want to build a whole mine beneath the village of Zinnwald. We will extract rocks, then the raw ore will travel through a nine kilometer long tunnel towards Liebenau - that's another village here. There, it will come above ground and straight into a processing plant, where the mineral ingredients are separated from each other, and the lithium is extracted... for the production of lithium hydroxide for making batteries."

01:35 
Around 400 jobs could be created...plus another 1,000 with supplier. The problem? the locals aren't sure they to see mining return here. Ever since 1991, when mining ended in the region, it has turned to tourism.. And the Ore Mountains have been sold as a travel destination, a place for hiking in summer and skiing or sledding in winter.

And while, no one from the local citizen's initiative wanted to speak on camera, the town's deputy mayor shared how people here feel. 

+++ SOT André Barth, Deputy Mayor of Altenberg +++
"There are people saying we have a mining tradition here.. that's an opportunity for us. But there's others saying: our nature, landscape, tourism is under threat.. that's why we're against this project. It's a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it would improve corporate tax income, which would be very welcome news for our town. But a curse because we can't afford to undermine the tourism we have worked hard to establish over the past 30 years. And that's why it is our job as the town's adminstrators to stay out of the debate.. as long as the benefits don't strongly outweigh the cost... and we're not there yet."

03:01
The company's CEO is trying to address the concerns. He says that 60 percent of the extracted material will be returned to the mine so that for instance houses aren't impacted... something that has happened with ore extraction in other places...like a Swedish village, which had to be evacuated and moved recently.

+++ SOT Marko Uhlig, Zinnwald Lithium CEO +++
"The fact that people are worried: what will happen to my house in Zinnwald? What's the impact on ground water? What about sand and mining dust blowing around? Those are all legitimate questions.. but that's why it's important to establish such a mining project in Germany. To show people that we have rules and regulations in place."

03:43 
Back in the old mine, geologist Thomas Dittrich is sampling rock.. hoping that this work isn't in vain. And that Zinnwald Lithium will become a reality when extraction begins.

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