TIDMSAV
RNS Number : 1440B
Savannah Resources PLC
31 May 2023
31 May 2023
Savannah Resources Plc
(AIM: SAV, FWB: SAV and SWB: SAV) ('Savannah' or the
'Company')
Positive DIA for Barroso Lithium Project
Barroso Lithium Project Receives Positive Environmental Impact
Statement (DIA) from Regulator
Savannah, the European Lithium Development company, is pleased
to report that Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente ( ' APA'), the
Portuguese Environmental r egulator, has issued a Positive
Declaration of Environmental Impact ('DIA') for Savannah's wholly
owned Barroso Lithium Project (the 'Project') in northern Portugal.
With this key positive decision, the Project can now progress to
the next stage of the environmental licencing process ('RECAPE'),
and the outstanding work required to complete the Definitive
Feasibility Study ('DFS') on the Project can recommence.
Highlights
-- Savannah has received a positive DIA from APA for its revised
design and optimisation for the Barroso Lithium Project, which
encompasses feedback from stakeholders to further minimise the
environmental impact of the Project.
-- This represents a major milestone for the Project and is the
first positive DIA for a lithium raw material supply project in
Portugal, while implementing European best ESG practices.
-- As expected, in line with international practice, the DIA has
been issued with a set of conditions, measures and compensations
(the 'Conditions') which, following review, Savannah has agreed to,
and which should provide further assurance that the Project will be
developed and operated in a socially and environmentally
responsible way, and that socio-economic benefits will be shared
with stakeholders.
-- The positive DIA allows the Company to progress key economic
studies on the Project, including the publication of an updated
Scoping Study expected in early H2 2023, and the recommencing of
the Definitive Feasibility Study.
Dale Ferguson, CEO of Savannah commented, "We are delighted that
APA has issued a positive DIA for the Barroso Lithium Project. This
is an extremely important step forward, not only in the development
of the Project, but also in the development of the lithium raw
material industry in Portugal.
"Given Savannah's commitment to responsible practices,
minimising impact and sharing socio-economic benefits, the Company
has agreed to the Conditions associated with the DIA . These
Conditions include obtaining conditional approval to construct the
proposed bypass road to join to the A24 motorway and limiting the
removal of vegetation from the Project area to certain months of
the year. Others, such as not taking water from the Covas River and
backfilling or partially backfilling and relandscaping the mining
areas once ore extraction has ceased, mirror plans and commitments
the Company has already made in its submissions to APA, our
community engagement programme and decarbonisation targets.
"The decision from APA now gives us the detailed framework we
need to produce the final technical design of the Project. Hence,
our next major task on a technical front is to undertake all the
outstanding work necessary to complete the Project's final design.
This will then allow us to complete both the environmental
licencing process and the Project's Definitive Feasibility
Study.
"With the Project taking a big step towards development through
this decision, our other major task is to further increase our
engagement with all stakeholders so they are kept well informed of
how the Project will now progress, and how they can work with us
and our engagement team to help shape the Project's social role in
the region. In this way, everyone can benefit from the long-term
socio-economic opportunities the Project will create. We will also
be looking to add to our own team as the Project workload
increases.
"APA's positive decision is a fundamental de-risking milestone
for the Project and marks the start of an exciting new phase for
the Barroso Lithium Project, for Savannah and for Portugal as it
takes its first step to seizing a significant role in Europe's
lithium battery value chain and energy transition. It also reflects
the excellent and dedicated hard work of the Company's staff,
particularly our licencing team of Joao Barros and Sonia Coelho,
and professional advisers over the last eleven months since the
Project entered the Article 16 process."
Next steps
-- Scoping Study : Savannah will publish a new Scoping Study
based on the revised Project design submitted to APA which
incorporates current consensus spodumene concentrate price
forecasts. Savannah expects to publish this Study in early H2
2023.
-- Definitive Feasibility Study : With a number of operating
parameters, including site layout agreed as part of the DIA
approval, Savannah can now move ahead with the finalisation of the
Project's Definitive Feasibility Study. As part of this study, a
small programme of fieldwork is required, including some drilling.
Savannah will look to undertake this fieldwork later in 2023, which
is expected to take approximately 6 months. Savannah expects to
complete the DFS around 12 months after the restart of
fieldwork.
-- Stakeholder engagement : Savannah's stakeholder engagement
programme (Action Plan) will also be maintained and expanded.
Through engagement with stakeholders, the Company will work to
optimise the Project's Benefit Sharing and Good Neighbour Plans,
which can be built around Savannah's initial proposals which
include;
o Creation of a community foundation which would receive
EUR500,000/year from the Project for community-led initiatives
o Support for environmental, historical, cultural, and
agricultural heritage projects
o Support of initiatives for young people, individuals and
families in need, and the elderly
o Ongoing provision of resources for local firefighters
o Sharing of health, transport, and infrastructure assets
-- The Social Impact Assessment being conducted by Community
Insights Group will also be progressed.
-- Environmental Licencing : Savannah expects the remaining
steps of the environmental licencing process to take 9-12 months to
complete:
o 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").
o 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'. APA is expected to take around 60 working days to
review the submission.
Regulatory Information
This Announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of the UK version of the market abuse regulation (EU No. 596/2014)
as it forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("UK MAR").
Savannah - Enabling Europe's energy transition.
**ENDS**
Follow @SavannahRes on Twitter
Follow Savannah Resources on LinkedIn
For further information please visit www.savannahresources.com
or contact:
Savannah Resources PLC Tel: +44 20 7117 2489
Dale Ferguson, CEO
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Tel: +44 20 3470 0470
Advisor & Joint Broker)
David Hignell/ Charlie Bouverat (Corporate
Finance)
Grant Barker/Abigail Wayne (Sales & Broking)
RBC Capital Markets (Joint Broker) Tel: +44 (0) 20 7653 4000
Farid Dadashev/ Jamil Miah
Camarco (Financial PR) Tel: +44 20 3757 4980
Gordon Poole/ Emily Hall / Fergus Young
LPM ( Portugal Media Relations) Tel: +351 218 508 110
Herminio Santos/ Jorge Coelho
About Savannah
Savannah is the owner of the Barroso Lithium Project. Located
close to key infrastructure in northern Portugal, the Project
contains the most significant spodumene lithium resource in Western
Europe. Following a positive Scoping Study in 2018, Savannah is
progressing the development and environmental licencing of the
Barroso Lithium Project based on the production of approximately
200,000t of spodumene concentrate per annum.
The Company is listed and regulated on AIM and the Company's
ordinary shares are also available on the Quotation Board of the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FWB) under the symbol FWB: SAV, and the
Börse Stuttgart (SWB) under the ticker "SAV".
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END
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