Liberec - The state-owned company, Diamo, made the first move towards starting uranium mining in Podještědí region, around the southern slope of the Ještěd mountain in northern Bohemia.

The Environment Ministry agreed to create a so-called protected deposit zone around the location of the reserves of the strategically important uranium ore.

People living in the area have been protesting and writing petitions against the planned mining works. They reject the official decision and are determined to take their case to court. Residents maintain that the state is denying them their constitutional rights.

"Up to the last moment we were hoping the protected ore deposit area would not be established," Jaroslav Jadrný, the spokesman for those opposed to uranium mining, said.

"Now we have to come up with a strategy to force the authorities to change their decision," adds Jadrný.

We had no alternative, officials say

Officials from the Environment Ministry claim there was no other possible course of action but to declare the protected deposit zone.

"Under the law, the state-owned company Diamo has an obligation to apply for the establishment of a protected uranium deposit zone," commented Jarmila Krebsová from the ministry's press department, adding that this official step does not necessarily mean that mining machinery will be shortly arriving in the region.

"This decision does not assure any future legal claims necessary for the next steps towards exploiting the deposit," Ms Krebsová claims.

Should Diamo want to start mining, it has to go through the required administrative processes, and that means taking into the account the position of the surrounding villages and towns. An evaluation of the impact of mining on the environment and the project's conformity with Czech Republic's raw material policy would also be required.

The experience of the past few years has shown that the ministry takes the position of local authorities in these matters into serious consideration.

For example, an Australian company has been trying to mine uranium in Vysočina region on the Czech-Moravian border. The Evironment Ministry, though, has refuses to let them even survey the deposits. One of the reasons for the decision, among other things, was the city halls' disapproval.

Uranium protesters: We don't trust them

But the reactions from those living in Podještědí region show they don't really believe this kind of consolation. The locals think the authorities' decision establishing the protected deposit zone is not legal.

"The so-called territorial planners are not in agreement on creating a protected deposit contrary to the Mining Act," claims Jadrný, adding that under this interpretation the Environment Ministry had no right to confirm the protected deposit status.

People in Podještědí want to go one step further and attack the Mining Act itself. "It's against the Constitution as it does not grant us equal rights," Jadrný explains. They are ready to take their dispute all the way to the Constitutional Court.

Under current Czech legislation, boroughs and their residents cannot influence declaration of protected deposits.

Only one entity takes part in the administrative process - in this case, Diamo Company. The current mining act came into effect in 1988 and opponents of uranium mining under the Ještěd Mountain claim it's full of totalitarian rhetoric. Although its amendment is under way, it would come too late for the citizens of Podještědí region.

20,000 tons of uranium under Ještěd

Although there is not yet a final decision on whether mining machinery will soon invade the region, local people see the official declaration of protected deposits as a threat.

They claim such a declaration is a stigma that adversly affects tourism, the key industry in the region. Possible mining would irreversibly damage the environment, the opponents say.

Miners found uranium around Ještěd Mountain already some thirty years ago. The reason given by Diamo for applying for registration of the deposit only now is simple enough: uranium prices are currently soaring, thanks to the world-wide revival of interst in nuclear energy.

"Before, the returns from mining would not be high enough to justify our application. But thanks to price increase, the deposit became lucrative," deputy manager of the company, Marián Böhm, said.

There are 20,000 tons of uranium ore next to the towns of Osečná and Kotel . Currently, about 3,000 CZK are offered per kilogram, Mr Böhm said.