REG - Savannah Resources - Barroso Lithium Project - Update

Savannah ResourcesAnnouncement

12/06/2025 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20250612:nRSL5580Ma&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 5580M  Savannah Resources PLC  12 June 2025

 

 

12 June
2025

Savannah Resources Plc

(AIM: SAV) ('Savannah', or the 'Company')

 

Strong Progress maintained towards the Development of the Barroso Lithium
Project

 

Savannah Resources plc, the developer of the Barroso Lithium Project (the
'Project') in Portugal, one of the European Commission's 'Strategic Projects'
under the Critical Raw Materials Act and Europe's largest spodumene lithium
deposit, is pleased to provide an update on a number of ongoing Project
workstreams. The Company continues to make good progress towards completion of
the Definitive Feasibility Study ('DFS') and licencing phase in the Project's
overall development into a key asset in Europe's lithium battery value chain.

 

Highlights (Early April to date):

·    Definitive Feasibility Study

o  Drilling: Good progress continues to be made with the phase 2 drilling
programme, with multiple drill rigs working in parallel across the Project. As
at 6 June, 93 holes have been drilled for approximately 11,400m in the planned
117/c.13,000m programme.

o  Assay results: Results have now been received from 68 holes drilled across
the Pinheiro, Reservatório and Grandão orebodies. The latest (third) batch
of assays (see 29 May 2025 RNS for full details) included 43m @1.24% Li(2)O
from 15m at Pinheiro, 38m @1.67% Li(2)O from 41m at Reservatório, and 7m
@1.38% Li(2)O at Grandão.

o  JORC Resource updates: Assays to date indicate the potential for grade and
tonnage increases at Pinheiro and tonnage increases at Reservatório. As the
first orebody to be mined any increase in Pinheiro's average grade and size
could have a positive impact on operating costs and cash flow generation in
the Project's first years. JORC Resource updates for these orebodies and
Grandão will be made as part of the DFS programme later this year.

o  Other workstreams: Work on all other fronts, including mine scheduling,
metallurgical testwork, surface and ground water modelling, processing plant
equipment engineering and CAPEX estimation, tailings and water storage,
hydrogeology, decarbonisation, by-product strategy and road network design, is
proceeding as scheduled.

·    Environmental Licencing: Field studies and preparation works for
Savannah's 'RECAPE' submission continued during the period.

·    Infrastructure: The Environmental Impact Assessment and accompanying
Preliminary Design report for the 16km bypass road was submitted to the
Portuguese Environmental Agency in April. In parallel, the Project's technical
report was submitted to Infrastruturas De Portugal (IP). Preliminary design
work on the internal haul roads between the processing plant and mining areas
was advanced and is nearing completion.

·    Land ownership and access: Savannah is proceeding with its plan to
secure ownership of, or access to, all the land required for the Project's
development. Three separate workstreams are currently underway; the ongoing
acquisition of land on commercial terms, securing a second land easement
(temporary access order) in support of future fieldwork, and the legal process
through which the Company can compulsory acquire/access the properties that it
has not been able to acquire or access to date. On the second land easement,
relevant property owners have already been notified by the relevant
authorities and an approval is expected shortly.

·    Stakeholder engagement: Savannah has continued to deepen its
engagement with local stakeholders through targeted outreach, enhanced
presence in the field, and strengthened two-way communication channels. During
the period, Savannah conducted a second trip to a mining area for our local
community, taking a group to meet the Barruecopardo community located near to
Saloro S.L's operating tungsten mine in Salamanca province, Spain.

·    Recruitment: Recent hires include Henrique Freire to the role of
Chief Financial Officer ('CFO'), Egídio Ribeiro as Project Finance Manager
and Mike Tamlin as Offtake Adviser. Michael McGarty, the Company's former CFO
took up a newly created role as Chief Corporate Officer.

·    Next Steps: During the remainder of Q2 and Q3 2025, Savannah will
continue to advance all DFS and environmental licence-related workstreams. The
Company will also continue with its stakeholder engagement activities, team
expansion and with its efforts to secure ownership or access to all
Project-related land.

 

Savannah's Chief Executive Officer, Emanuel Proença said, "There has been
more good progress with the Project's development over the past two months and
the team, which continues to grow in parallel with our progress, have pushed
hard to ensure we complete key tasks to reach the next set of milestones. As
we have flagged, the ongoing drilling campaign continues to return exciting
results and we are all looking forward to seeing what positive impact this
will have on the Project's JORC Resources when the new estimates are made
later in the year. Of particular interest is Pinheiro, as the first orebody to
be mined, any increase to its average grade and size could have a positive
impact on Project's economics through lower operating costs and higher
cashflow in the early years.

 

"Furthermore, our position in the local community is constantly strengthened
by our ongoing engagement and ever growing commitment to the area through
further job creation and deepening ties with individuals, businesses and
community groups.

 

"Much progress has been made on the Project, but there is much work still to
do to reach our next milestones of the Definitive Feasibility Study and final
environmental licence. Hence, we expect to generate significant news flow in
the second half of the year as we progress towards those goals.

 

Further Information

 

Definitive Feasibility Study

The DFS is the detailed analysis of the technical, commercial and economic
feasibility of the Project. Recent progress on DFS-related matters includes:

 

·    Drilling Programme: The second phase of drilling required to complete
updates on the Project's JORC compliant Resource as well as gathering
outstanding geotechnical and hydrogeological data continues to progress well
with multiple drill rigs (diamond core and reverse circulation) working across
the Pinheiro, Reservatório and Grandão deposits. As of 4 June, a total of 93
holes have been drilled for approximately 11,400m. Hence, Savannah has
completed over 85% of the planned 13,000m programme.

 

Figure 1. Barroso Lithium Project summary map showing deposits and drill hole
locations.

 

·    Significant intercepts and assays to date: Savannah has now received
assay results from 68 of the holes drilled across Pinheiro, Reservatório and
Grandão. The latest (third) batch of assay were reported late last month (see
29 May 2025 RNS for full details) from a further 26 holes (3 at Pinheiro, 21
at Reservatório and 2 at Grandão). Highlights included:

o  At Pinheiro, where we continue to intersect broad zones of higher-grade
lithium mineralisation both near the surface and at depth on a routine basis,
assays included 43m @1.24% Li(2)O from 15m in hole 25PNRRC034, including 5m
@1.93% Li(2)O. There was also an approximate 70m of near continuous
mineralisation in hole 25PNRDD015 consisting of 19m @1.25% Li(2)O from 50m,
including 8m @1.73% Li(2)O, and 47m @1.29% Li(2)O from 73m including 9.2m
@1.81% Li(2)O.

 

Figure 2. Recent drilling at Pinheiro

 

o  At Reservatório, results continue to give very encouraging indications of
multiple zones of higher-grade mineralisation. Latest assays included, 38m
@1.67% Li(2)O from 41m in hole 25RESRC070, including 6m @2.17% Li(2)O and
34.91m @1.24% Li(2)O from 99m in hole 25RESRC054 (includes 23.1m @ 1.28%
Li(2)0 from 99m previously reported from RC drilling).

o  The most recent assays from Grandão also confirmed that mineralisation
continues along strike and down dip with results including, 7m @1.38% Li(2)O
from 65m in hole 25GRARC144, including 4m @1.5% Li(2)O and 4m @1.03% Li(2)O
from 23m and 11m @0.97% Li(2)O from 30m in hole 24GRARC147.

·    Potential impact on upcoming JORC Resource updates: Based on the
consistent higher-grade zones of lithium mineralisation at Pinheiro combined
with very good widths, the potential exists for an increase in the size of the
Pinheiro resource and overall grade (last estimated at 2.0Mt at 1.0% Li(2)O,
Inferred). The recent batch of drilling results from Reservatório is also
very encouraging with results suggesting there is potential to extend the
resource further to the northeast.

·    Future assays results: Samples from the remaining 23 holes drilled to
date are being processed at the laboratory and Savannah expects to receive the
next set of results during Q3 2025. Once reviewed and evaluated Savannah will
announce relevant results in due course.

·    Site layout: The site layout is complete, with preliminary layout of
the roads and infrastructure finalised for the DFS and RECAPE.

·    Mining: Life Of Mine scheduling work is completed to a level of
detail sufficient to obtain the required data on mining, drilling and
explosive volumes, as well as ex-pit haulage profiles and cycles, to be used
as a basis to start preliminary market pricing exploration with potential
contractors. Contractor pricing requests will be sent out in the coming weeks.

·    Processing Plant: Budget quotation requests responses have been
received from the majority of contractors engaged with, including for
electrical equipment, steel/pipe fabrication and installation contracts. Based
on the quotations received, Savannah continues to work with its consultant
(Sedgman) to finalise the estimate for the processing plant CAPEX.

·    Metallurgical testwork: the initial phase of the programme is nearing
completion. Samples from Pinheiro to complete the remaining phase have been
received at the laboratory (Nagrom) in Australia.

·    Tailings and Water Storage: water reservoirs and site water
management designs are largely completed and under review in coordination with
our consultants (Knight Piésold and Quadrante Global), to ensure the design
satisfies Portuguese standards. The preliminary design of the Tailings Storage
Facility is completed, with validation of the final definitive design expected
once ground geotechnical information is available after the execution of the
field investigation works.

·    Hydrogeology: the preliminary hydrogeological model received from
Knight Piésold has been reviewed by Savannah and the final report is expected
imminently.

·    Ceramics by-products: the Company continues its engagement with
entities in the ceramics sector to explore business or partnership
opportunities in relation to its quartz-feldspar by-products.

 

Figure 3. Barroso Lithium Project 3D Model

 

Environmental Licencing

Field studies and RECAPE preparation works continued during the period. Much
recent work has focused on biodiversity including:

·      Iberian wolf: The 2024 monitoring results continue to support the
conclusion that there is no established wolf pack within the Project area,
which appears to be used solely as a dispersal or transit zone by individual
wolves. However, Savannah has made targeted adaptations to the Iberian wolf
monitoring plan with the aim of achieving a more representative and
comprehensive coverage of the area. These adaptations are reflected not only
in an increased number of transects conducted, but also in the strategic
deployment of camera traps (wildlife cameras) and 'Audiomoth' devices (to
detect howling).

·      Flora & Fauna: The final round of seasonal surveys will take
place during June and will serve to update and complement the dataset
collected during the 2024 monitoring campaign.

·      Forest Inventory: As established in the Project framework and
following the completion of the Project's definitive spatial footprint, a
forest inventory is scheduled to be carried out during June. This inventory
will involve the systematic quantification and characterisation of forested
areas directly affected by the development of the Project. The process will
adhere to standardised methodologies to ensure consistency, accuracy, and
regulatory compliance, taking into account key parameters such as land cover
type, vegetation structure, and forest composition. The results of this
inventory will provide a robust basis for determining the precise extent of
forested land impacted by the Project's implementation. Based on the data
collected, a detailed calculation will subsequently be performed to define the
corresponding area of forest that will require compensation, in alignment with
applicable environmental mitigation policies and national regulatory
frameworks. This compensatory area will be established in the coming weeks,
ensuring that the Project's environmental obligations are fulfilled in a
transparent, measurable, and verifiable manner.

 

Figure 4. Collection of water data from boreholes in April

 

Infrastructure

The studies and design work for the Project's supporting infrastructure are
now well advanced, with excellent progress made on several fronts including:

·    Bypass Road: The bypass will join to the west with the national road
R311 to subsequently link to the Project's proposed northern access road, and
to the east with the A24 motorway that provides access to the Inner North
Freeway, towards the main Atlantic port facilities. As planned, the
Environmental Impact Assessment ('EIA') and accompanying Preliminary Design
('PD') report for the 16km bypass road was submitted to Agência Portuguesa do
Ambiente, ('APA'), the Portuguese Environmental Agency. In Parallel, the
road's technical report was submitted to Infrastruturas De Portugal (IP). A
Project presentation session with all relevant stakeholders from Portuguese
governmental agencies was held in May.

 

Following the submission of the bypass road EIA, and considering that the
entirety of the baseline study was conducted during the autumn and winter
months, an additional biodiversity field campaign was carried out during the
Spring season. This additional field effort was specifically designed to
enhance the comprehensiveness and temporal representativeness of the
biodiversity dataset associated with the Project area. Spring biodiversity
surveys hold particular ecological importance, as this season typically
corresponds to peak biological activity across multiple taxonomic groups.

 

The data collected during the spring campaign will serve to refine and
complement the existing biodiversity baseline, ensuring a more robust and
ecologically representative foundation for impact prediction, mitigation
planning, and regulatory compliance. The results of this supplementary
campaign will be formally submitted to APA, as part of the ongoing engagement
and environmental licensing process.

·    Internal haul roads: Preliminary design work on the internal haul
roads between the processing plant and mining areas was advanced and is
nearing completion.

·    Infrastructure geotechnical studies: Preparations are being made for
the geotechnical fieldwork required on the Project's infrastructure locations,
including internal roads and the northern access road to allow for a swift
start as soon as the second land easement (see Land section) is approved by
the Portuguese regulator.

·    HV Power: The DFS level design and permitting process are continuing,
with the design to be submitted to the network operator (E-REDES) during June.

 

Figure 5. Map showing the potential layout of Project-related road and power
infrastructure

 

Land

·     Land acquisitions: Savannah remains open to acquire land plots on
amicable terms from local community members and offers significantly better
financial terms to the owners than alternative options. Further negotiations
are underway, which Savannah expects to be converted into acquisitions in the
short term.

·      Additional land easement: In support of the fieldwork and
geotechnical studies required for the detailed design of the Project's
infrastructure, a second land easement application has been submitted to the
Government. Relevant property owners have already been notified by the
competent authorities and an approval is expected shortly.

·  Compulsory land acquisition process: During the period Savannah executed
its first 'friendly expropriations', i.e., land purchases in cases where
owners accepted to sell their properties after receiving the expropriation
notifications. The Company continues to expect approval of a 'Declaração de
Utilidade Publica' (Declaration of Public Utility ('DPU')) from the relevant
governmental authorities following the application which was submitted in
December 2024. This is the mechanism that grants public utility which is
necessary for compulsory acquisitions. Once approved, the DPU will allow the
Company to compulsorily acquire the properties that it has not been able to
acquire to date through its ongoing land acquisition programme.

 

Recruitment

Savannah is committed to attracting and retaining the best talent in the
industry. We believe that our people are the foundation of our success, and we
continue to invest in building a team that drives innovation, excellence, and
sustainable growth. As part of this ongoing effort, we were pleased to welcome
two key additions to our leadership team:

·   Chief Financial Officer ('CFO'): Henrique Freire, a seasoned executive
with extensive experience in financial leadership across diverse sectors was
appointed to the role in April. Prior to joining Savannah, Henrique spent nine
years as CFO of US$2bn listed energy entity, EDP Brazil and 13-years in
M&A, having served as a Partner in one of the 'Big Four' accountancy
firms. This strategic hire reinforces Savannah's focus on strong governance,
financial discipline, and long-term value creation. Former Group CFO, Michael
McGarty, assumed the new role of Chief Corporate Officer.

·     Project Finance Manager: Egídio Ribeiro was appointed as Project
Finance Manager. A former investment banker, Egídio's previous role to
joining Savannah was as Funding Manager at the Portuguese lithium refinery
venture, Aurora Lithium. Along with Henrique, Egídio will be leading
Savannah's efforts to secure construction financing for the Project.

 

During the period, Savannah also appointed Mike Tamlin to the role of Offtake
Adviser. Mike brings over 20 years of expertise in the lithium industry. In
previous roles, Mike has negotiated and managed significant material offtake
agreements and identified and developed major international corporate joint
venture partnerships in the lithium mining and converting sectors in Australia
and internationally.

 

Further details of these appointments are available in the 14 April 2025 RNS.

 

Stakeholder Engagement

Over the past two months, Savannah has continued to deepen its engagement with
local stakeholders through targeted outreach, enhanced presence in the field,
and strengthened two-way communication channels. Key recent actions include:

·    Refining stakeholder insights through sentiment mapping by updating
the stakeholder database with new data points and generating a heatmap that
visualizes evolving community perceptions-enabling the team to tailor
messaging and prioritise follow-up with groups expressing heightened concern.

·    Deepening dialogue with local leadership and organisations by holding
follow-up meetings with the Associação Futuro do Barroso to reaffirm
Savannah's openness to constructive dialogue, and convening sessions with the
Dornelas and Canedo Parish Presidents and the Mayor of Ribeira de Pena, to
inform them of Project developments.

·    Facilitating cross-community learning visits, organising and
accompanying a 40-person delegation from Covas do Barroso to the Barruecopardo
community (Spain), near the Saloro Mine, creating opportunities for local
residents to see first hand how a neighbouring operation manages social
performance and livelihood integration.

·    Expanding local field presence and housing support, continuing to map
housing availability in Covas do Barroso and Dornelas to identify suitable
accommodations for the Project's advisors, technical teams, and security
staff, and engaging directly with landowners and residents to negotiate and
finalise amicable agreements for key land access.

·    Broadening youth and academic outreach by hosting Environmental
Management & Urban Planning students from the University of Manchester for
a full presentation on Savannah's community strategy and target milestones,
fostering relationships with future professionals and exchanging fresh ideas
for responsible engagement.

 

These efforts have strengthened Savannah's reputation for transparent
communication, built trust with institutional and individual stakeholders, and
laid the groundwork for continued community integration as the Project
advances.

 

 

Figure 6. Community trip to the Barruecopardo community/Saloro mine in Spain

 

Key milestones and expected future news flow during Q2/Q3 2025:

 

·    DFS:

o  Completion of current drilling programme with assay results and updates
released periodically during the programme.

o  New JORC Resource estimates for the Grandão, Reservatório and Pinheiro
orebodies.

o  Completion of metallurgical testwork programme

o  Completion of independent product characterisation and market study for
feldspar-quartz by-product.

o  Approval of the HV power permitting design and submission of the licencing
request to DGEG.

o  Commencement of Front End Engineering Design.

·    Environmental Licencing: Finalisation of key work streams for RECAPE
submission.

·    Infrastructure: Completion of geotechnical fieldwork and studies
required to finalise the feasibility design of all the Project infrastructure.

·  Recruitment: Continuing expansion of the technical team in preparation
for the Project's future development.

·    Land Access: Complete processes for second land easement in relation
to northern access road and section of the Mining Lease, and compulsory
purchase of land elsewhere.

·    Stakeholder engagement: Ongoing relationship building with all
relevant stakeholders through regular engagement, events, community
initiatives and comprehensive communications.

 

Competent Person and Regulatory Information

The information in this announcement that relates to exploration results is
based upon information compiled by Mr Dale Ferguson, Technical Director of
Savannah Resources Limited. Mr Ferguson is a Member of the Australasian
Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and has sufficient experience
which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under
consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a
Competent Person as defined in the December 2012 edition of the "Australasian
Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves"
(JORC Code) and a Qualified Person under the AIM Rules for Companies. Mr
Ferguson consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based upon the
information in the form and context in which it appears.

 

The information in this release that relates to Mineral Resources for the NOA
deposit is based on information compiled by Mr Shaun Searle who is a Member of
the Australasian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr Searle is an employee of
Ashmore Advisory Pty Ltd and independent consultant to Savannah Resources Plc.
Mr Searle has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of
mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity
which he has undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the
2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for the Reporting of Exploration
Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Mr Searle consents to the
inclusion in this report of the matters based on this information in the form
and context in which it appears.

 

The Information in this report that relates to Mineral Resources and
Exploration Targets for the Grandão, Reservatório, Pinheiro and Aldeia
deposits is based on information compiled by Mr Paul Payne, a Competent Person
who is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.   Mr
Payne is a full-time employee of Payne Geological Services.  Mr Payne has
sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type
of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify
as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the "Australasian Code
for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves".
Mr Payne consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his
information in the form and context in which it appears.

 

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 X (Formerly known as Twitter)

Follow Savannah Resources on LinkedIn

 

For further information please visit www.savannahresources
(https://www.savannahresources.com/) .com or contact:

 

 Savannah Resources PLC                                            Tel: +44 20 7117 2489

 Emanuel Proença, CEO
 SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Advisor & Broker)       Tel: +44 20 3470 0470

 David Hignell/ Charlie Bouverat (Corporate Finance)

 Grant Barker/Abigail Wayne (Sales & Broking)

 Canaccord Genuity Limited (Joint Broker)                          Tel: +44 20 7523 8000

 James Asensio / Charlie Hammond (Corporate Broking)

 Ben Knott (Sales)
 Media Relations

 Savannah Resources: Antonio Neves Costa, Communications Manager   Tel: +351 962 678 912

 

About Savannah

Savannah Resources is a mineral resource development company and the sole
owner of the Barroso Lithium Project (the 'Project') in northern Portugal. The
Project is the largest battery grade spodumene lithium resource outlined to
date in Europe and was classified as a 'Strategic Project' by the European
Commission under the Critical Raw Materials Act in March 2025.

 

Through the Project, Savannah will help Portugal to play an important role in
providing a long-term, locally sourced, lithium raw material supply for
Europe's lithium battery value chain. Once in operation the Project will
produce enough lithium (contained in c.190,000tpa of spodumene concentrate)
for approximately half a million vehicle battery packs per year and hence make
a significant contribution towards the European Commission's Critical Raw
Material Act goal of a minimum 10% of European endogenous lithium production
from 2030.

 

Savannah is focused on the responsible development and operation of the
Barroso Lithium Project so that its impact on the environment is minimised and
the socio-economic benefits that it can bring to all its stakeholders are
maximised.

 

The Company is listed and regulated on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative
Investment Market (AIM) and trades under the ticker "SAV".

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  UPDFTMATMTTBMRA