Name of the Project
Mina do Barosso lithium project.

Location
The project is located near Boticas, in northern Portugal.

Client
Savannah Resources.

Project Description
A scoping study has confirmed that Mina do Barosso has the potential to be a major European producer of spodumene lithium, with robust project economics and the potential to deliver substantial shareholder value.

The study is considered a base case for the project and is based on a mine and concentrator-only development for the production of spodumene concentrate.

The project will use a contract miner and fleet.

Conceptual openpit mine planning has been developed, targeting a plant feed rate of 1.3-million tonnes a year, with an estimated average life-of-mine (LoM) mill head grade of 1.02% (diluted) lithium oxide (Li2O), and an average overall strip ratio of 5.2:1 (waste:ore ratio). The project will have an LoM exceeding 11 years.

The flowsheet comprises a combined 1.3-million-tonne-a-year dense-media separation and flotation circuit, with an overall plant availability of 85% for the recovery of spodumene. The study estimates average production of 175 000 t/y of spodumene concentrate at 6% Li2O.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $356-million and an internal rate of return of 63.2%, with a payback of 1.7 years.

Value
Initial capital expenditure is estimated at $109-million.

Duration
Construction is expected to start in the second quarter of 2019, with production expected to start in the first quarter of 2020.

Latest Developments
Savannah Resources has added a number of leading Portuguese and international consultancy groups to its project team, advancing work on the Mina do Barroso project.

The new consultancies appointed will assist Primero Group and Savannah’s in-house team with their work on the feasibility study, which is progressing well.

Additional groups have also been appointed to advise on funding, community engagement and communications for the project.  
 

In addition to Primero, which was appointed in July as the primary engineering group and lead manager for the feasibility study, the team also comprises Knight Piésold, which will lead geotechnical and hydrological engineering; Quadrant, which will consult on the transport and logistics requirements; Nagrom, which continues to provide assay and metallurgical test work services; ALS, which provides assay and metallurgical testwork services; and VISA Consultores, which is working on the  environmental-impact statement assessment.

The company further appointed communications firm CV&A Consultores and it recruited S317 Consulting to design a stakeholder management strategy, develop a community engagement plan and source European Union funding.

Its financial adviser is Noah's Rule.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Hatch (engineering services); PayneGeo (geological model and resource estimations); Minesure (analysis and definition of the scoping level mining inventory and contractor costs); Primero Group (primary engineering group and lead manager for the feasibility study); Knight Piésold (lead geotechnical and hydrological engineering); Quadrant (consultant on transport and logistics requirements), Nagrom (assay and metallurgical testwork services), ALS (assay and metallurgical testwork services) ; VISA Consultores (environmental-impact statement assessment); CV&A Consultores and S317 Consulting (stakeholder management strategy, community engagement plan and sourcing of European Union funding); and Noah’s Rule (financial adviser).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Savannah Resources, David Archer, tel +44 20 7117 2489.