Mine opposers in Boticas applaud machine withdrawal from Savannah

Othe popular who are in favour of the exploration of lithium in Covas do Barroso, Boticas, today applauded the withdrawal of the drilling machine from a wasteland by Savannah, considering that it is a “win” for this fight.

“It is a victory for our struggle. And it is a joy to see a machine like that, which has no other objective than not to destroy the wasteland, to go away”, says quoted in a statement, Aida Fernandes, president of Barroso’s Covas wasteland.

For three days, between Tuesday and Thursday, popular women joined a survey site, in wasteland inserted in the administrative servitude granted to Savannah in May, with the aim of blocking the company's work.

During these days the mine dealership insisted that “no interventions were planned at the site of the protests” and, at the end of the afternoon of Thursday, announced that it completed the geotechnical work in the east block of Barroso’s lithium project, in an area where the factory will be installed and the activities will be concentrated during the first eight years of operation.

The company stated that the programme was completed in that area, that the operations continued on other fronts of work, according to the defined planning and repeated that its activity on site took place under the administrative servitude granted by the Portuguese State.

According to the statement released today by the U.S. Barroso Covas Defense Association (UDCB), the company removed the drilling machine from the Barroso Covas wasteland around 19:00 on Thursday.

“The company says there was no blockage, because there were no planned jobs. Can anyone believe this? In the morning, when we started the blockade, we saw the workers' van arriving at the scene. But when they saw us, they left. If they didn't have any more work planned, why did it take them three days to remove the machine? It's a convenient speech. It only serves to avoid alarm among investors,” adds Carlos Gonçalves, resident of Covas do Barroso.

The president of UDCB, Nélson Gomes, also mentioned in the text, points out that the “block shows that the community is willing to do what is necessary to stop this project.”.

“ The company doesn't have most of the land it needs to move forward with the mine, and no one here will make life easier for them. The investors of this project are deluded. Everything the company promises ends up being more expensive and time consuming than promised and I am sure that in the end this project will fall”, he concludes.

On Thursday, Savannah reported to the market that it concluded “successfully” at the beginning of the week the geotechnical and hydrogeological recognition work planned for the east block of the project.

The campaign lasted five months and involved 276 observation points and more than 180 recognition wells and, according to the company, the work “represented an investment of more than 500 thousand euros in direct services in the local economy”.

There were also 32 surveys for piezometers, which allow measuring and monitoring water levels, and 30 geotechnical surveys, which provided dozens of samples to characterize the conditions of the foundations of future installations and the quality of materials that could be used in construction.

“ Regarding the challenge to the project of the last days, because we are from the region, we know that it does not represent the local feeling. We see in daily life the increasing acceptance of the project by all those who welcomed the path of dialogue ", said on Thursday the executive director (CEO) of the company, Emanuel Proença.

The mine is contested eight years ago and the mining project was made possible by the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), with the issuing of a favorable Environmental Impact Declaration (IAI) conditioned in 2023.

Savannah Resources intends to start construction in 2027 and achieve the first production in 2028.