Savannah Resources PLC has published the DFS for Phase 1 of its Barroso Lithium Project in Portugal, together with its first maiden JORC Reserve. The results cover the first 14 years of production, and it says confirm the project’s exceptionally strong financial and technical merits. The Phase 1 operation will see 2.56 Mt of spodumene concentrate (183,000 t/y), based on a 20 Mt first JORC Probable Reserve.
The DFS has some interesting insights into the mining plan from a method and fleet point of view. Mining will be executed as a conventional open pit excavator-truck operation. Loading equipment will be comprised of 130 t nominal operating weight (or similar) backhoes and 90 t nominal payload (or similar) mining dump trucks.
Mining bench height will be 5 m across all deposits, with ore areas mined in two flitches of 2.5 m each with the option of performing full 5 m double-benching mining in waste only areas. Ore mining will be reached at early stages due to the shallow mineralisation characteristic across the project’s deposits.
Ore will be hauled on internal private haul roads to the ROM yard and waste to the various waste dumps located near to each respective pit. As a commitment to both early rehabilitation and operational efficiency, backfilling is also included in the mining sequence, starting with Pinheiro pit once it is fully depleted, which mitigates any impact caused by an open empty pit left for an extended period of time.
Mining will be executed by an external contractor under a rates based contract, which may also include production drilling, blast hole explosive charging, tie-in and shot blasting. Savannah will have its own technical services team and mine management team, therefore the production geology, mine planning, drill & blast engineering, blast hole sampling, surveying and contractor supervision functions will be fully controlled by the project owner, providing full direction and oversight on execution.
Drilling, blast hole charging, tie-in and shot blasting will be executed via an external contractor, with these functions likely to be included within the mining contract scope.
Mining will start with pre-stripping activities during the year prior to the start of processing operations, i.e. still during construction. This will provide waste to complete construction of key infrastructure, such as water reservoirs, the TSF buttress and roads.
The first pits to be started will be Pinheiro and Grandão, followed by NOA in year 5 after depletion of Pinheiro. Reservatório starts in year 7 once NOA is depleted, with Aldeia being the last pit, starting in year 9. Reservatório, Grandão and Aldeia pits will run in parallel between years 9 to 12 when Grandão is depleted, with Reservatório and Aldeia then continuing until the end of the mine life in year 14.
Annual material movement varies throughout the mine life, peaking at 17.4 Mt in year 15, although this movement corresponds to waste backfilled from the waste dumps into the pits for rehabilitation and closure purposes. Pit mining movements peak at 11.4 Mt in year 11. Ore feed is maintained at 1.5 Mt per annum, with the exception of years 1 and 14 of operations which correspond to ramp up and ramp down periods.
The finalised process flowsheet is designed to manage variability in lithium grade, mica content, iron-bearing minerals, slimes generation and ore texture. The flowsheet includes crushing and screening, DMS pre-concentration, grinding, desliming, magnetic separation, mica flotation, spodumene flotation and dewatering. The process produces spodumene concentrate and four tails or by-product streams: DMS floats, combined process tails from fines and magnetics, mica concentrate and spodumene flotation by-product.
The decarbonisation approach for the Barroso Lithium Project is framed within European and Portuguese climate policies, which aim for carbon neutrality by 2050 and significant emissions reductions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. Industry benchmarking shows that some mining companies are committing to net zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2050, with interim reduction targets typically ranging from 30% to 70%.
The decarbonisation strategy also responds to national legislation, including Decree-Law 30/2021, which requires mining projects to incorporate energy efficiency, renewable energy integration, and circular economy principles. The strategy also considers broader national and European climate objectives, including the Carbon Neutrality Roadmap 2050 and the National Energy and Climate Plan, which set ambitious targets for emissions reductions in industry and transport sectors.
For Scope 1 emissions, operational measures such as payload optimisation and improved fleet efficiency are considered to reduce fuel consumption. Also, non-core equipment such as staff-allocated lightweight vehicles and pickups will be exclusively electric. On top, the project is prepared to implement in the future two possible solutions that would result in drastic Scope 1 reductions: green fuels and electric mining equipment.
Green fuels would be the short-term option: these would be advanced biofuels such as hydrotreated vegetable oil and biodiesel derived from waste materials, in partial or direct substitution of diesel. Savannah has confirmed that these fuels can be used in existing equipment without significant modifications, and that lifecycle emissions would be reduced by up to 80-100%. An offer by a specialised supplier is on the table, Savannah says making this path possible and financially bearable.
The medium-term option is further electrification of mining equipment, which has been studied in depth together with a world leading but unnamed OEM company. Savannah: “Simulation studies indicate that battery electric mining trucks currently face challenges related to higher costs, lower productivity due to charging requirements, and limited availability of suitable equipment in the market. As a result, a phased approach is considered, with initial reliance on conventional equipment, and potential transition to electric fleets as technology matures. Potential gains in future costs have not been included.”
Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente (APA), the Portuguese environmental regulator, issued a positive Environmental Impact Statement (DIA) on Savannah’s revised design and optimisation for the Barroso Lithium Project on 31 May 2023. This represents a major milestone for the project and was the first positive DIA for a lithium raw material supply project in Portugal.
Following the positive DIA, Savannah expects the project to receive its Environmental Licence in 2026. To receive the Environmental Licence Savannah must now complete the Environmental Compliance Report of the Execution Project (RECAPE). During this phase of the licencing process the company will again engage with APA to ensure that all the conditions set in the DIA are captured in the final design of the Project.
Savannah will then submit the final designs for the project along with the measures and environmental monitoring plans to be implemented during the construction and operating phases to meet the criteria established by the DIA. If these designs and plans are approved by APA the environmental conformity of the detailed design can be declared (DCAPE).
Running in parallel with the RECAPE process is the licencing award process. Once the DCAPE declaration has been made the Project can be awarded its final Environmental Licence, Título Único Ambiental (TUA).