Boticas, Portugal, June 12, 2025 (Lusa) - Savannah said on Thursday that it is proud of the European Commission’s recognition of the Barroso mine, which it classified as a strategic project, noting that its opponents continue to “spread misinformation” and “recycle arguments” that others have already refuted.
The association Unidos em Defesa de Covas do Barroso (UDCB), MiningWatch Portugal, and ClientEarth contested the European Commission’s support for the lithium mine in the municipality of Boticas, in the north of the district of Vila Real, and on Wednesday called for a reassessment of the decision to classify it as a strategic project under the Critical Raw Materials Regulation.
The three non-governmental organisations (NGOs) considered that the European Commission “needed to assess more accurately” the environmental and social risks of the open-pit mine and therefore lodged a complaint with this European body, which will have to respond within 22 weeks and may then refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
‘Our project is proud of the European Commission’s recognition as a strategic project for Europe. It is also proud of the decisive role it can play in the reindustrialisation of Portugal, in generating jobs in the interior of the country and in Europe’s energy transition. It is a huge responsibility that we have on our hands, and we want to live up to it,’ Savannah told the Lusa news agency in response to the NGOs’ initiative.
The company also emphasised its commitment to “sharing accurate information about the Barroso lithium project, countering any intentional and repeated misinformation.”
“The group of people behind today’s complaint is once again reusing arguments that others have refuted several times, that do not rest on scientific evidence, that draw on a study carried out by someone who repeats the same theses in every project they ‘evaluate’ and that rely on inaccurate premises,” it said.
He gave as an example the thesis that the mine “will have a tailings dam, and that this is dangerous”, while the “tailings dam is an infrastructure that this project does not include”.
The NGOs highlighted several concerns, including a proposal for the storage of tailings (solid and/or liquid waste discarded after ore processing) that they consider “not yet safe,” water sources for the mine that they judge “currently unfeasible,” and an approval process for the site that they believe “still requires additional environmental conditions.”
The organisations pointed out that residents of nearby villages, such as Covas do Barroso, Romaínho and Muro, have long warned that the project could threaten their land and livelihoods.
“Repeating a lie never makes it true. We are one of the most scrutinised projects in the country, with a solid and transparent technical basis,” Savannah added.
The open-pit lithium mine obtained a conditional Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in 2023, and the company plans to start production in 2027.
In a statement released today, Savannah pointed to the “good progress of the work, both on the ground and on various other fronts,” saying that it is continuing with its “normal programme of friendly land acquisition” and working with the authorities to obtain access to land through the legal instruments at its disposal, such as administrative easements or expropriation.
According to the company, work on the Environmental Compliance Report for the Implementation Project (RECAPE) “continues at a good pace,” adding that in April it submitted the environmental impact study for the future 16 km bypass road planned in the project to the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA).
PLI/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
