In the quiet industrial belt east of Prague, the Chvaletice Manganese Project is being touted as Europe’s best chance to secure a domestic source of high-purity manganese for electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Led by Canada-listed Euro Manganese, the project would extract 50,000 tonnes of battery-grade manganese sulphate per year from decades-old tailings — without opening a new mine.
Endorsed by the European Commission under the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) and backed by the European Investment Bank and EIT InnoEnergy, Chvaletice is the only Czech project on the EU’s Strategic Projects list. Yet despite feasibility studies and EU support, construction has not begun. Final environmental permits and grid access approvals are still pending.
The CRMA, which came into force in May 2024, promises 27-month fast-track permitting for Strategic Projects. But in Czechia — as in Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary — this has not yet been transposed into national law, leaving projects like Chvaletice in limbo.
Across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), multiple projects have been named under the CRMA, from Poland’s lithium and rare earth ventures to Slovakia’s proposed Magnon Green Energy separation plant near Nitra. None have yet reached financing or construction. A Penta Group analysis warns of “technical, financial, social, and geopolitical” barriers delaying progress.
The funding gap is also stark. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates the EU spends just 0.05% of GDP on critical raw materials — far less than the US (0.2%) or Australia (0.39%). In CEE, governments have prioritized downstream EV battery plants, while upstream mining and processing projects receive little public funding.
China’s dominance in CRM processing compounds the risk. The country controls over 80% of rare earth refining and nearly all natural graphite processing. In July, Beijing tightened export controls further, adding gallium, antimony, and manganese to its restricted list.
Industry leaders warn that unless Europe accelerates CRM development, it will remain strategically vulnerable. “The EU may as well be a province of China,” AMG Lithium CEO Stefan Scherer recently remarked, urging a “continental-scale investment surge.”
For now, Chvaletice stands as CEE’s flagship. But with the EC due to revise its Strategic Projects list in early 2026, its future hinges on whether Czech authorities can align laws and issue permits in time. “Brussels has recognised the urgency,” Euro Manganese CEO Matthew James said. “But unless national systems accelerate, these projects will miss the transition window.”
