First capital equipment purchased for Savannah’s Barroso lithium project
Savannah Resources PLC, the developer of the Barroso Lithium Project in Portugal, a ‘Strategic Project’ under the European Critical Raw Materials Act and Europe’s largest spodumene lithium deposit, has provided an update on various technical work programmes and the first capital equipment purchase for the project.
Savannah’s team and its external consultants continue to make good progress with all elements of the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS). Final review of some elements has started, and all remaining work the company says will be completed to the required standards over the coming weeks. Previous guidance has been reconfirmed with completion expected in July.
Following the recent award of the second temporary land access last week, Savannah is close to completing the associated formalities, including communicating with all relevant landowners, and has begun work preparing the ground for the planned fieldwork. Field teams are already working on Savannah owned land plots, performing the annual pre-fire season vegetation clearing ahead of preparing the geotechnical campaign.
The tendering process for the engineering contractor to undertake the FEED study for key long lead item equipment is well advanced. Savannah expects to select a provider from the strong short list in the coming weeks. Once selected, the chosen group is expected to begin this critical piece of work in June.
In terms of the environmental licence compliance study (RECAPE), following recent engagement with the Laboratório Nacional Engenharia Civil (LNEC), the Portuguese governmental body responsible for advising the environmental regulator (APA) on water related Infrastructure, Savannah will bring forward planned detailed engineering work on the project’s water infrastructure to further enhance its RECAPE submission. This work was originally scheduled to take place prior to construction.
Savannah has moved quickly and appointed Portuguese engineering company, COBA, to undertake the work. COBA brings decades of domestic and international experience in water related infrastructure engineering work and mining. COBA will begin the work later this month.
Factoring in this additional engineering work, Savannah now expects to complete its RECAPE submission for the environmental licencing process during Q4 2026. Based on the date of submission and the 50 working day review period available to APA under the relevant legislation, its decision would then be due in or before late February 2027. Savannah says it will act to manage the impact of this schedule extension on other workstreams as required, including the project’s financing process, maintaining the target of first production in 2028.
Savannah also recently marked the milestone of the first piece of equipment purchased as part of the Project’s overall initial CAPEX. A transformer has been purchased to form an integral part of the new electrical infrastructure at the project.
Emanuel Proenca, Chief Executive Officer of Savannah commented: “The team are making good progress with the multiple technical workstreams which are currently underway on the project and I can reconfirm expected completion of the DFS in July and our 2028 target for first production. The extension to the timeline for the environmental licencing process is a prudent risk mitigation step that will help to ensure that our RECAPE submission will be of top quality, and the project’s environmental licence will be finalised. Furthermore, this additional work, along with the geotechnical work we are undertaking, will also help to advance the project’s detailed engineering ahead of construction.”
He added: “On a different front, we were very pleased to pass another milestone on the project with our first capital equipment purchase. While relatively small, this avoids potential delays on an item that frequently suffers long delivery times worldwide. It also marks the beginning of the ‘build’ phase and reiterates our commitment to delivering the project. Further purchases and deposits for long lead items will be made at the appropriate times as we move towards construction next year. With much going on, including the upcoming geotechnical field work, I look forward to keeping all stakeholders and shareholders updated with Savannah’s ongoing progress.”
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