Stephan Bernstein, CEO of GreenRoc, details the PFS results for the new graphite processing plant. Watch the video here.
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I did indeed say that and it still applies. I find it’s difficult to gauge the strength of economic necessity vs people power. Depends on how secure the politicians feel in their constituencies and what side they decide to support I guess. Time will tell but I can’t see that anything significant has been reportedin the last 6 months to decide things either way?
CM....did you not say back in March?
"Some of the choices the Portuguese government will have to make are a little more economic in nature I feel? With a GDP of $217 Bn and debt of 122% GDP and tourism (currently at risk) of $33 Bn, the outlook is not good. Go cap in hand to the European bank (join the queue) or exploit resources may not be such a tough choice?"
I think these words were right at the time but mean even more now, given how we all know how much the world has changed in the last 7 months.
Once investment can start the EU will be ploughing BN's into this type of project. Yes local opposition will be rightly taken into account, but as part of a working arrangement and not a binary yes/no decision.
p.s I don't think you've become miserable. Then again, maybe it's just being from same town as you I know we're all like that all the time :-)
It's literally a handful of ill informed ignorant locals, not remotely worried about that aspect, the government will not let this opportunity slip, they can't afford to.
Actually I was in a more positive mood until I read this FT article! It highlights again the other perspective on the development i.e. local opposition. The question is, will this put a stop to or seriously delay mining in MdB? Until the EIA has addressed the authority’s questions and clears public consultation will we know for sure. I’ve been invested in other companies battling local resistance and it’s dragged things out for sometimes years. I’m hoping there is enough political will In Portugal to push this through.
Thanks for that:)
Continued
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https://www.ft.com/content/efa997fc-1b7a-11ea-97df-cc63de1d73f4
“Our aim is to go beyond simply mining lithium and create a whole industrial cluster that will put Portugal in the lead in this area,” said João Galamba, the secretary of state for energy.
The rush for mining rights, however, has sparked anti-lithium demonstrations, petitions, social media campaigns and heated parliamentary debates. At issue is not only the future of local communities, but also a belief among many campaigners that electric vehicles are not the best way to reduce CO2 emissions.
“We will need to generate more electricity to power them, which will almost certainly lead to the building of more coal-fired generating plants,” said Renata Almeida, who represents an anti-mining movement near the Serra da Estrela mountain range. Fifteen requests for lithium prospection in the area were submitted last year.
During the past decade, investments in organic farming and small-scale sustainable tourism have helped revive local communities in the rural interior of northern Portugal, a region only just beginning to recover from devastating forest fires in 2017.
Many residents fear lithium exploration will disrupt this progress. “Open-pit mining on a scale Portugal has never experienced before will have a big impact on the natural resources and ecosystems on which our jobs, businesses and local products rely,” said Catarina Vieira, who runs a small sustainable tourism business near the Serra da Estrela.
“I started as an individual concerned for my community, now I’m a citizen concerned for my country,” said Ms Scarrott, who spent her first 22 years in Covas do Barroso and now teaches abroad. “Lithium mining and refining is a huge risk for Portugal and I’m convinced it will damage the country in the long run.”
Mr Archer believes otherwise. “What is a very small development in mining industry terms could play a significant role in helping Europe meet its carbon reduction goals,” he said.
He estimates that over the 15-year life of the mine, it will eliminate close to 100m tonnes of CO2 emissions by reducing the need to ship lithium from China, Australia and Latin America and by supplying a vital material for electric vehicles.
From FT January 2020
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https://www.ft.com/content/efa997fc-1b7a-11ea-97df-cc63de1d73f4
High in the hills of northern Portugal close to the border with Spain, the remote village of Covas do Barroso is in the grip of what local media call “lithium fever” — and a clash between two conflicting visions of how to protect the environment.
The fervour in the village, a short walk from western Europe’s largest lithium deposit, was triggered by government plans to establish the country as Europe’s production hub for the metal, a critical component in electric vehicle batteries.
David Archer, chief executive of Savannah Resources, the UK-based company developing the nearby lithium mine, is confident the project will help reduce Europe’s carbon dioxide emissions and bring “overwhelming social, economic and demographic benefits” to a poor and thinly populated area.
But many local people are determined to halt the development, fearing the mine will scar the landscape, pollute water and disrupt the sustainable farming on which the local economy depends.
“Mining is too often a parasitic investment,” said Catarina Scarrott, a spokeswoman for a local movement opposed to the mine. “They take away more than they give back.”
More than a dozen anti-mining groups have sprung up across northern Portugal, a region whose lithium deposits have sparked a “white gold rush”. Scores of prospecting licences are being applied for and an international licensing tender for lithium exploration is due to be launched early this year. The government expects the five most promising areas to attract about €3.3bn in investment.
Lisbon plans to lock into an EU drive to advance European production of electric vehicle battery cells by building a lithium refinery at the northern port of Leixões, creating “an end-to-end lithium value chain” in Portugal. All Europe’s battery-grade lithium is at present imported from outside the EU.
The following Portuguese article from last year is an encouraging read and suggests that a refinery will go to public tender when SAV’s EIA is approved so for me, the news I want is the EIA approval. Then we can engage confidently with off-takers, EV partners and refinery builders.
Translated reads: “
The Portuguese Government wants to install in Portugal the first lithium hydroxide plant in Europe. According to the newspaper Público, the Minister of Economy, Pedro Siza Vieira, and the Secretary of State for Energy, João Galamba, are making efforts to have the refinery installed in the port of Leixões.
If it is already known that who is going to keep the battery factories for electric cars is the center of Europe, that does not worry me much. We just have to ensure that in the lithium chain we have the element with the greatest added value and that is the production of lithium hydroxide ”, Galamba explained to the same newspaper.
The Secretary of State added that he is now waiting for the environmental impact study - carried out by the company Savannah - to be approved before “seeing where there are impacts” and “there may be a serious discussion on the matter”. Galamba said that the Government wants to launch the public tender for the installation of this industrial unit “as soon as possible”, but guarantees that it will not be launched before the regulation of the law is concluded, which still has to go to public discussion.”
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/observador.pt/2019/11/17/governo-quer-abrir-a-primeira-refinaria-de-litio-da-europa/amp/
Although not definitive, the choice of location - the port of Leixões - is due to the proximity to the places where extraction can be done, but also because it is a point through which you can receive lithium concentrates from other countries. Galamba believes that the local population will be surprised by the proposals, because, he exemplifies, "there will be no sulfuric acid or other chemicals, but only the use of organic and biodegradable material".
Tony_currie, ah i cant read it!
Can you copy and paste the text in please?
Nothing announced yet. But worth another read :
https://www.ft.com/content/efa997fc-1b7a-11ea-97df-cc63de1d73f4
It's all about timing, our time is now, I believe we are VERY close to a deal, dare I say transformational LOL
Not been much to say for the past few months.
Cheer me up then, if you’ve got anything confirmed, post it, otherwise I’m afraid it’s just hearsay?
You've turned into a right miserable git lately. What do you think the team have been doing ? There has been a LOT of consultation with SAV over the building of a refinery, FACT.
I wouldn’t get too worked up about the delay in reporting. I’ve noticed a lot of companies are late due to finance teams home working and not collaborating so easily.
The plans for a refinery are key as per the article I posted a few days ago. An announcement on that would be great news but I haven’t seen anything to substantiate Its planning other than “this is what is needed”. I would be wary of getting caught up in a wave of optimism based on hope rather than facts.
If the building of the new refinery is announced soon the sp will go crazy, even more so if part of the deal is a stake in SAV.
Does seem like a new found interest in the share again.
So much news to come, surely even DA can't c*ck this up.
Moz to be monitised I hope, Portugal deal surely to be announced soon, why else are the interim reports being delayed?
Haha, joking aside, would be good to see this get over 4p again, i ill just about be in profit again!
I'm your boss so get back to the janitors closet or you're fired.
Osaka?..who are you really, are you DA in disguise?
The proposed site of the new refinery is likely to be Leixões, not Porto as first thought.