Savannah Resources may resume work within the Barroso lithium mine, in Boticas, which had been suspended following a precautionary measure, after the Ministry of the Environment presented a Reasoned Resolution reaffirming the public interest of the project.
Savannah announced today, in a press release, that after the ministry’s presentation of a Reasoned Resolution it plans to “return to on-site work in the coming days”.
The geotechnical works underway in the municipality of Boticas, in the district of Vila Real, were suspended on June 9 after a precautionary measure admitted by the Administrative and Fiscal Court of Mirandela.
The precautionary measure was filed by the Assembly of Co-owners of the Covas do Barroso Baldios against the Ministry of Environment and Energy, following a second administrative servitude that allows the company to enter community and private lands.
The geotechnical works aim to optimize the understanding of the terrain and foundations on which the processing unit and the remaining infrastructures needed for the next phases of the Barroso mine will be built.
The ministry’s document, which Lusa obtained, states that the temporary administrative servitude, over 24 parcels, was established to comply with the conditioned favorable Environmental Impact Declaration (DIA) issued in 2023 and to enable the preparation of the Environmental Compliance Report for the Engineering Project (RECAPE).
It also states that, after the works are completed (geological drillings and geotechnical boreholes), the morphology of the affected lands will be restored.
In the document signed by the State Secretary for Energy, Jean Paulo Gil Barroca, one may also read that the lithium project “has an impact on local economic development, namely through the creation of jobs,” contributing also “to population retention and to the territorial cohesion of a region marked by desertification”.
The ministry argues that mineral deposits “are essential for daily life and constitute some of the most important raw materials from an economic standpoint, while also being subject to a high risk of scarcity”.
It adds that “investment in lithium exploration aims to stimulate the national economy, promoting foreign investment and generating jobs in the mining sector and in related value chains, possibly also leading to the creation of a local lithium refining and processing industry and attracting, particularly to the interior of the country, industries that require this raw material, thereby fostering the development of these regions”.
And it notes that the Barroso mine was recognized by the European Commission in 2025 as a strategic project under the European Regulation on Critical Raw Materials.
The Ministry of Environment authorized an initial servitude in December 2024, which led to the filing of a precautionary measure by landowners and resulted in the suspension of prospecting works for 15 days in February 2025.
Emanuel Proença, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Savannah, states, cited in the press release, that “the issuing of this Reasoned Resolution is a step long expected”.
“It is a recognition of the work of our teams, both now and in the past, always carried out under close scrutiny. It is also a confirmation of the Portuguese state’s trust in the Barroso Lithium project, particularly its importance for the creation of a battery and lithium value chain in Portugal,” he stresses.
He also adds that “it is, finally, another case where a small opposition group that continues to spread fears and lies sees its efforts to block a project that will bring more jobs and more development to the Barroso region thwarted”.
The company intends to commence construction in 2027 and to reach first production in 2028.
