Savannah Resources, the European lithium development company, has signed an agreement with ECOPROGRESSO − Quadrante Group − a Portuguese consultant in environmental, sustainability, climate change and resources management to lead on the creation of a decarbonisation strategy for the Barroso lithium project in Portugal.

The appointment of ECOPROGRESSO, a leader in multiple aspects of environmental management including carbon management and mitigation and adaptation strategies on climate change, follows on from Savannah’s commitment last November to move towards net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions for the project while also targeting the reduction of its Scope 3 emissions.

The pact could see Savannah responsibly produce a ‘net zero’ lithium product at the project to help to ensure lithium entering the European value chain results in the production of ‘net zero’ lithium-ion batteries, it said.

ECOPROGRESSO’s work will consist of three phases:

• Phase 1: Updating the estimate of the project’s greenhouse gases (‘GHG’) emissions based on international guidelines, and defining targets for overall greenhouse gas reductions;
• Phase 2: Working with sector specialists in zero-emissions vehicle and equipment manufacturing, automation and control systems, to define and prioritise the key
  decarbonising initiatives;
• Phase 3: Defining the implementation of a decarbonisation roadmap aligned with the overall project’s operational strategy, and designing a stakeholder engagement plan with specific initiatives to involve the main stakeholders across the value chain in the global emissions reduction strategy

Savannah said it expects the decarbonisation strategy to be defined and ready for implementation in the June quarter of 2022.

David Archer, CEO of Savannah, said: “The appointment of ECOPROGRESSO follows on from the commitment Savannah made last November on moving towards reducing the Scope 1 and 2 emissions at the Barroso lithium project to net zero once we are in production and, ultimately, to a position of net zero life-of-mine and targeting the reduction of its Scope 3 emissions in collaboration with ECOPROGRESSO and its future customers.

“Quadrante is a Portuguese company with significant domestic and international experience in disciplines such as carbon management meaning it is ideally placed to help us to devise and implement a focused strategy which will help to deliver our net zero goal in a timely manner. Their work, along with additional work we expect to undertake with other expert consultants and service providers in related fields, will be crucial in making the Barroso lithium project a source of low-carbon, ideally zero-carbon, lithium for use in the battery value chain of Europe. Making this commitment is not only an appropriate action for Savannah to take in terms of its own environmental responsibilities, but also helps to identify the Barroso lithium project to the growing number of consumers which place considerable emphasis and value on minimising the environmental impact associated with raw material supply.”

Margarida Magina, Head of Environment and Sustainability at QUADRANTE Group, said: “ECOPROGRESSO is delighted to be working with Savannah on devising and delivering its decarbonisation strategy for the Barroso lithium project. As a QUADRANTE Group company, we have specific environmental, mining, industry and energy know-how, which allows us to have a holistic approach, envisioning mining operations from development to decommissioning, with a strong commitment with mining decarbonization strategies. We believe we will deliver an integrated package which will cover all three scopes, driving the Barroso lithium project towards ‘net zero’.

“We propose to develop The Barroso lithium project’s decarbonisation strategy, identifying a set of initiatives, its benefits-cost assessment based on carbon abatement cost curve and a consolidated roadmap for implementation. Once the work is complete, all stakeholders will be able to see that the Project, and Portugal, can be a responsible, low carbon source of this critical raw material for Europe’s energy transition.”

Savannah Resources says Barroso is Western Europe’s most signicant spodumene lithium deposit with 27 Mt at 1.06% Li2O plus further mineral resource potential. The company is working on a definitive feasibility study for the project, but a 2018 scoping study outlined the building of a $109 million, 1.3 Mt/y run of mine project able to produce around 175,000 t/y of 6% Li2O spodumene concentrate and generate a base case, post-tax net present value (8% discount) of $241 million.