Savannah Resources says it will be resuming fieldwork and drilling campaign on Barroso Lithium Project
Environment minister Maria da Graça Carvalho has come to the aid of mining company Savannah Resources, only recently thwarted in its ambition to push forwards with the Barroso Lithium Project that has generated so much local antipathy.
Following the ‘administrative easement’ granted by her ministry, then halted by the combined forces of angry landowners, the minister has presented a ‘reasoned resolution’ to judicial authorities, arguing that “the suspension of work due to the injunction is seriously detrimental to the public interest”.
In a press release received today from Savannah Resources, the company claims that the minister contends that if work does not resume “the suspension would entail a delay that would result in a delay in the implementation of the project and jeopardise the safe and sustainable supply of this strategic raw material for the energy transition and the contribution that the entire battery value chain, including recycling, will have for regional and national economic development”.
Emanuel Proença, Savannah’s CEO states that:
“The issuance of this Reasoned Resolution is something we already expected as it is the logical sequence defined in the law. We know that all our work, which has been done under high scrutiny, is being done well. We are on the ground every day. Our team is now more and more from the local community, made up of good people. And we know that the alarmist discourse of the opposition group, which has been given a lot of media attention, has exacerbated concerns over the years that we have to understand and address, as we are increasingly doing, with the result that a large part of the region’s population already sees and recognise the benefits of the project.
“The document issued yesterday reinforces what we have been saying: that our project will be essential to not only the country but also the region – quoting it: ‘Lithium exploitation can stimulate the national economy, promoting foreign investment and generating jobs in the mining sector and associated value chains, and could lead to the creation of a local lithium refining and processing industry and the attraction of refining and processing industry and the attraction of industry that needs lithium, which greatly benefits the territories and can give new life to the hinterland.
“Savannah Resources Plc plans to return to work on the ground in the coming days”.
All this being said, the bottom line is that the court has not yet ceded to the pressures of the environment minister, and the injunction is still very much in place.
As for the delay this injunction poses to the project, mining for lithium in Covas do Barroso has been delayed for the last seven years due to the level of concern by the local population, unashamedly backed by its mayor, focused on saving the area’s natural values, particularly its UNESCO Agricultural World Heritage status, and its water.
In other words, yes, Savannah may indeed get the green light to resume its work in the area, but it has certainly not got the backing of the “large part of the region’s population” which is still focused on fighting this project to the bitter end.
