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Savannah Resources signs benefit sharing deals for Portugal lithium project
The Barroso project was granted €110 million this year, and Savannah says its reserves are now pegged at more than 39 million tonnes after a 40% increase in 2025.
Savannah Resources said it has signed three benefit sharing agreements with local communities that hold and manage communal lands near its Barroso lithium project in Portugal. The deals cover participation in project oversight bodies, local reinvestment of benefits, and rent based compensation indexed to inflation, the company said.
Barroso was deemed a strategic project under the European Critical Raw Materials Act, and Savannah describes it as Europe’s largest spodumene lithium deposit. The company said it lifted the project’s reserve estimate by 40% in 2025, bringing reserves to more than 39 million tonnes from 28 million tonnes previously.
Savannah said it signed an agreement with the Baldio of the villages of Alijó, Canedo and Penalonga, and another with the Baldio of the Couto de Dornelas, plus a Memorandum of Understanding with the Secretariat of the Baldios of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro. The company also referenced an addendum to an agreement in place since 2020, tied to land on and adjacent to the western end of the C-100 mining concession.
Despite the project’s strategic designation, Savannah noted opposition from local communities and environmental groups, including concerns about land use, water and biodiversity at the World Heritage agricultural site in the Barroso region. Savannah said Portugal has mined lithium for ceramics but has not yet produced battery grade material at scale, and that it plans four open-pit mines with combined output aimed at batteries for about 500,000 electric vehicles each year.