German newspaper interview30 Oct 2018 13:18
How Portugal benefits from the boom in electric cars
The growing demand for emission-free cars is fueling the business with the lithium needed for their batteries. This is also felt by Portugal as Europe's largest supplier of raw materials.
The earth near the town of Boticas, which lies dormant in Portugal's high north, was already in demand because of many treasures. When Napoleon's troops approached in the early 19th century, the fear of plunder by French soldiers was rampant in the villages. In order to bring their wine to safety, some residents buried their bottles and barrels. When they exhumed them later, they were surprised to find that the red wine tasted better than before - and made the experience a tradition. In the village, there is still in small quantities the "vinho dos mortos", the wine of the dead. More than 200 years after Napoleon's invasions, it is all about mineral resources of a different kind: The British company Savannah Resources plans in the district of Boticas, the production of lithium, which stores there in large quantities.
Unexpectedly large reserves
Lithium is also known as "happy metal," says Savannah boss David Archer, because it is included in some antidepressants. So far, it has also been used in the ceramics industry as well as in batteries of laptops and mobile phones. But what drives demand is above all the booming demand for this light metal for the batteries of electric cars. So, the Savannah boss wants to quickly start funding in Portugal. Savannah would become the largest producer of lithium in Europe, says Archer in an interview in Lisbon.
Previously, the interest in Boticas was more the feldspar than the lithium. It was not until May 2017 that Savannah acquired from another company an earlier license to research and mine these deposits. There is still a 10-person team working with holes on site. According to Archer, this is probably the most extensive drilling for mineral resources that Portugal has experienced in decades. In the first half of 2019, a study on the economics of mining is expected. Archer is "very confident" in this regard. After about nine months for technical preparations and after examining the project in terms of environmental aspects, the production of lithium-containing spodumene in the "Mina do Barroso" could start in the first half of 2020.
Among the world's largest producers of lithium are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Australia. Portugal would probably not break its dominance, but it is already among the top ten producers and has the largest known reserves in Europe. In 2017, a government-appointed group of experts identified nine deposits in Portugal, all in northern parts of the country. She estimated the occurrence of spodumene at Boticas at around 14 million tonnes. Savannah estimates these now at 20 million tonnes. According to Archer, they could reach 29 to 35 million tons, enough for mining for up to twenty years.
Spodumene stores to a large extent near the su
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