"Portuguese municipality to file lawsuit to stop lithium mine amid corruption scandal", 9 November 2023

A municipality in a lithium-rich area of northern Portugal said on Thursday it would file a lawsuit next week to stop London-based Savannah Resources from developing four open-pit mines, adding that an ongoing corruption scandal related to "green" energy deals had given a boost to its fight…

With more than 60,000 metric tons of known lithium reserves, Portugal is Europe's biggest lithium producer, but its miners sell almost exclusively to the ceramics industry.

They are now preparing to produce the higher-grade lithium for batteries as Europe seeks to develop its own strategic energy resources to reduce dependence on China and other suppliers. 

Environment agency APA earlier this year gave environmental approvals for Portugal's Lusorecursos to extract battery-grade lithium in northern Montalegre and for Savannah Resources to develop mines in Boticas, also in the north...

Boticas Mayor Fernando Queiroga told Reuters his team was finalising a lawsuit against Savannah's mining plans it initiated after APA's environmental approval in May, and aimed to file it next week…

Savannah said it "has and always will conduct its business in a fully lawful and transparent manner".

Lithium projects have faced strong opposition from local residents and environmentalists. They say the processes lacked transparency and have warned of "dangerous promiscuity" between decisionmakers and mining companies…