The 5th workshop of the EU Interreg cooperation project recomine SN-CZ-Plus took place on the 9th and 10th of June 2026 in Varnsdorf, Czech Republic, as well as an excursion on the 11th of June in Sohland . In addition to the interesting specialist presentations on critical mineral resources and rock extraction in the Šluknov and Sohland border region by the Saxon State Office for the Environment, Agriculture and Geology, the Czech Geological Survey (Česká geologická služba), Beak Consultants GmbH, the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade (Ministerstvo průmyslu a obchodu), the Varnsdorf region and the Czech Ministry of the Environment (Ministerstvo životního prostředí), participants were able to visit quarries and historic mining sites as part of the field trips, including Schweidrich, Šluknov, the Císařský lom quarry, Lobendava, Rožany and Jiřetín pod Jedlovou on the Czech side, as well as the Rožany ore dump and the important strategic quarries at Sora and Ebersbach on the German side.

We would like to thank all participants and speakers and look forward to the next workshop as part of the project on the topic of ‘Primary Ores’, which will take place on 16–17 September 2026 in Annaberg-Buchholz.