REG - Savannah Resources - Continued Progress on Key Project Workstreams

Savannah ResourcesAnnouncement

30/01/2024 07:15

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RNS Number : 2969B  Savannah Resources PLC  30 January 2024

 

 

30 January 2024

 

Savannah Resources Plc

(AIM: SAV, FWB: SAV and SWB: SAV) ('Savannah', or the 'Company')

 

Continued Progress on Key Project Workstreams

 

Savannah Resources Plc, the developer of the Barroso Lithium Project (the
'Project') in Portugal, Europe's largest spodumene lithium deposit, is pleased
to provide an update on a number of workstreams as it continues to advance the
Project.

 

Strategic Partnering Process:

·    The process is moving forward as expected, with good levels of
interest sustained from groups located along the battery value chain.

 

Definitive Feasibility Study ('DFS'):

·    Schedule: Savannah still expects to complete the DFS in H2 2024.

·    Recent drilling and design work includes:

o  As of 23 January, Savannah has completed a total of 2,531m of reverse
circulation and diamond drilling across 40 holes in the first of the two
phases planned in the current programme.

o  The drilling programme is focused on providing data for infilling and
upgrading the Project's existing JORC (2012) compliant Resource and for
geotechnical studies.

o  All 9 of the planned hydrogeology boreholes have also been completed.

o  Despite some delays in receiving assay results from third party
laboratories, the Company still expects to begin publishing results from the
drilling and updating the JORC Resource estimates on a deposit by deposit
basis later this quarter.

o  Savannah's team and its consultants are continuing to develop final
designs for the Project's working areas, processing plant and infrastructure.

 

Environmental Licencing:

·    Schedule: Savannah still expects to complete the studies, works and
adaptations required to confirm compliance with all elements of the DIA in H2
2024.

·    Hydrogeology: Along with the necessary drilling, all surveys related
to the hydrogeological study have been completed, and the modelling is
underway.

·    Flora & Fauna: The second seasonal survey has been carried out
successfully.

·    Formal consultation with Entities: As part of the RECAPE process,
Savannah has launched the process of formal consultation with entities which
either manage the area (e.g. the Boticas municipal council), or operate other
projects/infrastructure in the area, such as ERedes which manages the national
electrical grid. The consultation is for information sharing and to identify
any features or structures which will need mutual consideration in the future.

 

Recruitment:

·    Mr Thomas Gaultier has joined the Company as Community Relations
Manager. As an esteemed independent mediator and a lawyer, Thomas brings a
wealth of experience to this role and our team. His expertise extends to
teaching mediation and negotiation in law schools throughout Portugal, and to
practicing it in various scenarios associated with mines, mostly in Africa.

·    We have also further increased our staffing from the local community
with two new local recruits assisting the field team.

·    We look forward to welcoming a highly experienced Portuguese
Communications Manager to the team on 1 February 2024 and attracting more
talent as we continue to develop the Project towards construction and
production.

 

Stakeholder engagement:

·    The land acquisition process is continuing with the acquisition of a
plot of over 5 hectares completed recently. Savannah is approaching the
milestone of 100 plots purchased from local landowners.

·    The analysis of the data collected in the 400 interviews conducted by
Community Insights Group is continuing. The takeaways from this will allow us
to better understand community dynamics and interests, as well as fine-tune
our strategy to approaching the various local community needs. They will also
be decisive in further developing the Project's Stakeholder Engagement Plan.

·    New, more positive bonds and relationships are being created, and the
Savannah team is welcomed by a growing portion of locals. As highlighted
above, the group of Barroso and Boticas residents in the Savannah team is also
growing.

·    Meetings and presentations were held with a wide range of local
stakeholders. Stakeholder engagement is now a front of continuous activity for
the team.

·    Another edition of the Barroso Lithium Community Newspaper was
released and sent to approximately 4,000 households in the region.

 

Investor Relations:

·    An investor event is being held in London later today (Tuesday 30th
January 2024). A video of the event will be made available online.

·    A new corporate presentation will be available today for download
from the Company's website at
https://www.savannahresources.com/investors/presentations/
(https://www.savannahresources.com/investors/presentations/)

 

 

Savannah's Chief Executive Officer, Emanuel Proença said, "The Strategic
Partnering process is progressing well, with a group of tier one companies
from across the battery value chain engaged and undertaking due diligence.

 

"Back on the ground, the Savannah team and our consultants have been pressing
ahead with key workstreams following a short Christmas break and we remain on
track with the schedules we have set.

 

"We also continue to engage actively with the key stakeholders groups in the
local area and remain committed to addressing any doubts and fears that
persist about the Project among local communities. We feel that local
sentiment is quite different from the perception still being shared through
the media.

 

"2024 is set to be a very important year for the Company with  critical news
flow expected. The team and I are looking forward to providing further updates
and delivering on the milestones we have set ourselves."

 

 

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

Follow Savannah Resources on LinkedIn

 

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

 

 Savannah Resources PLC                                                 Tel: +44 20 7117 2489

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

 David Hignell/ Charlie Bouverat (Corporate Finance)

 Grant Barker/Abigail Wayne (Sales & Broking)

 SCP Resource Finance (Joint Broker)                                    Tel: +44 204 548 1765

 Filipe Martins/Chris Tonkin
 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 Resources is a mineral resource development company and the sole
owner of the Barroso Lithium Project in northern Portugal, the largest battery
grade spodumene lithium resource outlined to date in Europe.

 

Through the Barroso Lithium Project (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 rapidly developing lithium battery
value chain. After the Environmental Licence was granted in May 2023 and the
Scoping Study confirmed the economic potential of the Project in June 2023,
production is now targeted and on track to begin in 2026. At that stage,
Savannah will start producing enough lithium for approximately half a million
vehicle battery packs per year, equal to a significant portion of the European
Commission's Critical Raw Material Act goal of a minimum 10% of European
endogenous lithium production set for 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 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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