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Updated 16 June 2008
Czech Republic has a long history of uranium mining dating back to the nineteenth century. From 1960 to 1990 uranium production levels were maintained between 2,950 and 3,540 tonnes U3O8 per year. All current production is from Rozna Uranium Mine, located in the Archaean Bohemian Massif, in the south-east of the country.
 Full scale exploration and mining of uranium began immediately after the end of World War 2 in the historic mining province of the Ore Mountains in north-west Czech Republic near the German border.
Locations included Jachymov and numerous small, often very high-grade deposits in the area.
The main source of uranium was Pribram, which produced 65,000 tonnes of U (76,652 tonnes U3O8) by underground mining of high-grade vertical or steeply dipping veins.
This production made Czech Republic one of the 5 largest producers of uranium in that period.
 Economic uranium deposits have been found in the crystalline basement and cover formations of the Bohemian Massif. The majority of historic production is from metasomatic, disseminated zonal and vein mineralisation or a combination of these, with lesser production from sandstone deposits.
Over 80% of uranium produced in the Czech Republic came from three areas:
 Central Bohemia - metasomatic and vein mineralization. Over 40% of the country’s uranium production was sourced from Pribram (1948 – 1990).
The deposit is regarded as a classic carbonate-pitchblende formation with the main uranium minerals being pitchblende, anthraxolite and coffinite. Two distinct vein systems are identifiable, veins associated with faults and veins associated with a structural zone in an anticline of Proterozoic sediments.
The formation of the deposit is associated with the intrusion of Variscan granites of the Bohemian Massif. Ore extraction was via conventional underground mining operations.
 North Bohemia - sandstone hosted deposits are located in sedimentary cover of the Bohemian Massif. These deposits are tabular and mineralisation is largely orientated parallel to the depositional trend.
Mineralisation comprises primarily uraninite and “U-black”, with average ore grades of 0.05-0.59% U3O8 but up to 1% Ore extraction was via conventional underground mining, Hamr, or insitu leach, such as the Straz pod Ralskem deposit.
Sandstone hosted mineralisation in the North Bohemia region accounts for 22% of uranium produced in the Czech Republic.
Moravia - disseminated zonal and vein mineralisation is related to graphitized crash zones in crystalline rocks with veinlet-disseminated ore and comprises mainly uraninite, coffinite and brannerite.
Disseminated zonal and vein mineralisation style deposits in Moravia have been mined via conventional underground operation and account for approximately 17% of uranium production in the Czech Republic. Deposits include Rozna and Olsi.
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