London stock market-listed Savannah Resources has said today that the European Commission has reaffirmed and reinforced the status of the Barroso lithium mine in northern Portugal as a strategic European project by rejecting the complaint filed by non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The company that holds the concession for the Barroso lithium mine in Boticas, in the region of Vila Real, welcomed the “reinforcement of the European Commission’s confidence”.
Last week, it was announced that the European Commission had rejected the request made in June by the Association United in Defence of Covas do Barroso (UDCB), MiningWatch Portugal and ClientEarth to remove the Barroso mine from its list of “strategic projects” under the Critical Raw Materials Regulation (CRMA).
“This decision thus reconfirms and reinforces the Barroso lithium project as one of the strategic projects for Europe under the Critical Raw Materials Act” Savannah Resources says in a statement.
“The project will play a key role in the reindustrialisation of Europe, the decarbonisation of transport in the European Union and the fight against the external energy dependence that Europe faces today.
“It will also support the population and economic recovery of the region surrounding the project.” This last contention being bitterly refuted by members of the local population.
According to the British company, the European Commission’s decision to consider the applicants’ arguments “unfounded” follows “several other decisions by Portuguese courts in favour of Savannah”.
Savannah has also suggested that “the applicants are not representatives of the communities neighbouring the Barroso lithium project – with only one organisation having a local base and structure” and that “although it presents itself as an NGO, it is in fact a base for a group of increasingly radical people, which has been diminishing as the region gains a better understanding of the project”.
In short, Savannah regrets that the “constant search for visibility by the opposition group is at the expense of public resources” and stresses that the “European Commission’s increased confidence in the Barroso lithium project further increases the responsibility to develop the project well and quickly, in order to better serve communities, the country and Europe”.
NGOs and community groups have contested the Commission’s decision, arguing that it “ignores growing evidence that the mine’s design poses serious environmental and safety risks” and now point to a “risk of sacrificing rural areas and fragile ecosystems for short-term profits”.
The lithium mine proposed by Savannah Resources for Covas do Barroso, in Boticas, in the district of Vila Real, obtained a favourable Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in 2023, and the company plans to start construction in 2026 and production in 2028.
LUSA
