Secretary of State speaks at “Informed Conversations on Lithium in Portugal”
Portugal’s Secretary of State for Energy recognised on Monday in Lisbon that there is ‘local opposition’ to new mining projects, due to lack of knowledge and bad examples in the sector, but put forward the case of the critical importance of lithium.
“We have to recognise that there is a lot of local opposition to new mining ventures and projects. This is due to fear of the unknown and a degraded image of the sector,’ said the secretary of state for energy, Maria João Pereira, who was speaking at the “Informed Conversations on Lithium in Portugal” conference, taking place at the headquarters of the Portuguese Engineers’ Association in Lisbon.
She admitted that there are some bad examples, “especially in the past”, emphasising “we need to do better”.
She also pointed out that Europe imports raw materials from countries where human rights are not respected.
However, she noted that there are good projects in this area, stressing that it is these that the executive wants to follow.
“We have examples that show that mining can develop the economy, improve the living conditions of local residents and have good environmental performance”, she said.
During the opening ceremony of the conference, Maria João Pereira also said that it was difficult for ordinary citizens to “understand the environmental footprint that raw materials bring with them”, which is mainly linked to the distance between extractive activity and consumer goods.
Nevertheless, she considered it “inevitable” that raw materials will be part of our society and economy.
Maria João Pereira also pointed out that lithium is one of the “critical and strategic” raw materials, especially for ‘the energy transition’, as is the case with copper and feldspar.
“The criteria that should lead to the exploitation of a mineral in a given location are its reserves and the environmental footprint of the entire value chain.
“This means that we know that a good part of the footprint is associated with transport,’ she added, stressing that it is important for the government that Portugal continues to invest in recognising its minerals.
There are currently several communities in the centre/ north of Portugal fighting against mining concessions awarded by the previous government, on the basis that mining will destroy their quality and way of life and monopolise vital resources, particularly water.
Source material: LUSA
