Savannah sees 'significant' resource increase at Mina do Barroso

Resource development company Savannah Resources announced a “significant increase” in its JORC 2012-compliant indicated and inferred mineral resource estimate at the Mina do Barroso Lithium Project in northern Portugal on Wednesday.

The AIM-traded firm said Mina do Barroso was believed to be Western Europe's largest spodumene - a lithium bearing mineral - mineral resource.

It reported a 52% increase in overall mineral resource for Mina do Barroso, which now stood at 14Mt at 1.1% Li₂O.

The resource was defined from three deposits, with the expansion marking an 87% increase in the total mineral resource estimate at Grandao, to 10.3Mt at 1.1% Li₂O containing 111,600t of Li₂O.

A total of 70% of the Grandao Deposit was now reported at the higher confidence indicated classification, with an increase in Li₂O grade of around 6% compared to the February 2018 estimate.

A “significant” upside remained, with further mineral resource estimate updates expected during 2018.

Savannah said drilling was now underway targeting both down dip and strike extensions of the current Mineral Resource Estimate.

There was “excellent potential” for new discoveries of additional lithium bearing pegmatite bodies, the board added.

A scoping study remained on track for completion in the second quarter, ahead of making a development decision by early-2019.

“Mina do Barroso is shaping up as a major new European mineral discovery,” said CEO David Archer.

“With the strong growth prospects for lithium ion batteries for Electric Vehicles and for electricity storage from the grid this is a critical time to be bringing a project of Mina do Barroso's scale, grade and location, on stream.

“We believe that Mina do Barroso has the potential to be a key piece of Europe's emerging lithium value chain that could help support the shift by European car manufacturers to the production of Electric Vehicles.”

Archer said it was the second mineral resource estimate upgrade the company had made in the last two months, outlining its rapid development approach.

“We believe we have established the largest spodumene lithium Mineral Resource in Western Europe.

“It is important to remember that spodumene concentrate is the dominant lithium mineral product that is traded internationally, and with no current European producer we believe that Portugal could be the first European supplier of spodumene thanks to the near-term development potential of Mina do Barroso, which has already been granted a mining lease.

“Our focus now is to establish the project's economics, with the results of the scoping study due this quarter.”