(Lisbon) The Portuguese government announced on Friday the launch of an international call for tenders for the prospecting of lithium in six regions of the country, which holds the largest European reserves of this crucial metal for the energy transition.
Posted at 1:52 p.m.
Out of a total of eleven potential deposits, five of them were finally excluded for environmental reasons from the call for tenders which will be launched within two months, explained the Minister of the Environment and Climate action, Joao Pedro Matos Fernandes, during a press conference in Porto (north).
The mining projects, which could arise from these prospecting activities, to be developed over a period of five years, will be added to the three deposits already identified in Portugal.
The most advanced project, led by the British company Savannah in the municipality of Boticas (north-east), is awaiting the green light from the Portuguese Environment Agency.
One of the criteria of the call for tenders for prospecting for new deposits will be the presentation of an “industrial project” going beyond simple mining extraction, underlined Mr. Matos Fernandes.
“Not a gram of this lithium will be processed outside of Portugal,” he said.
Portugal is already the main European producer of lithium, but, for the moment, its production is used entirely for ceramics and glassware.
Along with cobalt or nickel, lithium is one of the essential metals in the manufacture of electric batteries that will replace automotive heat engines contributing to global warming.
In order to reduce its dependence on imports, particularly vis-à-vis China, the European Union is preparing to open mines and refineries.
Last December, the Portuguese oil group Galp Energia and the Swedish electric battery manufacturer Northvolt announced an agreement to build one of the first lithium refining plants in Europe in Portugal.