Last checked at 14 Feb 2023 14:15
14 February 2023
Savannah Resources Plc
(AIM: SAV, FWB: SAV and SWB: SAV) ('Savannah', or the 'Company')
Barroso Lithium Project Update
Court Ruling on the Action Brought Against the Republic of Portugal by Parish Council
Savannah Resources plc, the European lithium development company, provides an update on legal action brought against the Republic of Portugal by the Parish of Covas do Barroso (the "Parish Council") which was announced on 4 February 2022. The Mirandela Fiscal and Administrative Court (the "Court") has ruled that the Portuguese State and the Ministry of Economy are not legitimate parties in this lawsuit and, therefore, acquitted the defendants (the Portuguese State, the Ministry of Economy) and counter-interested party (Savannah) of all requests made by the Parish Council. As a result, this lawsuit will be extinguished if the Parish Council does not file an appeal within 30 days.
The lawsuit neither impacts the Barroso Lithium Project's activities nor the current environmental impact assessment process which is moving to a conclusion. The advice from Savannah's lawyers was and remains that the lawsuit is without foundation.
Savannah will make further announcements as appropriate.
Further Details
Savannah's wholly owned subsidiary, Savannah Lithium Unipessoal Lda., was joined in February 2022 as the counter-interested party in a lawsuit brought by the Parish Council as plaintiff in the Court in Portugal against the Republic of Portugal and the Ministry of Economy as defendants. The lawsuit seeks to nullify certain administrative actions by the defendants in June 2016 including the addition of lithium to and the expansion in the area of the C-100 Mining Lease.
The Court has ruled that the lawsuit should have been filed against a different government Ministry. The Court did not rule on the merits of the lawsuit and, therefore, a new claim may be submitted against the legitimate parties, with the same purpose. All the argumentation and claims from the Parish remain undecided.
The C-100 Mining Lease which contains the Barroso Lithium Project is fully granted, has a term of 30 years to 2036 and remains in good standing. The advice from Savannah's lawyers was and remains that the claim is without foundation and if a new claim is submitted to Court against the legitimate parties, with the same purpose, it will be challenged by Savannah as the counter-interested party.
Regulatory Information
This Announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the UK version of the market abuse regulation (EU No. 596/2014) as it forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("UK MAR").
Savannah -Enabling Europe's energy transition.
**ENDS**
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For further information please visit www.savannahresources.com or contact:
Savannah Resources PLC Dale Ferguson, CEO
| Tel: +44 20 7117 2489
|
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Advisor & Joint Broker) David Hignell/ Charlie Bouverat (Corporate Finance) Grant Barker/Abigail Wayne (Sales & Broking)
| Tel: +44 20 3470 0470
|
RBC Capital Markets (Joint Broker) Farid Dadashev/ Jamil Miah
| Tel: +44 (0) 20 7653 4000 |
Camarco (Financial PR) Gordon Poole/ Emily Hall | Tel: +44 20 3757 4980 |
About Savannah
Savannah is the owner of the Barroso Lithium Project, located close to key infrastructure in Northern Portugal which contains the most significant spodumene lithium resource in Western Europe. Following a positive Scoping Study which outlined a conventional operation producing 175,000t of spodumene concentrate per annum, Savannah is progressing the development and environmental licencing of the Barroso Lithium Project.
The Company is listed and regulated on AIM and the Company's ordinary shares are also available on the Quotation Board of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FWB) under the symbol FWB: SAV, and the Börse Stuttgart (SWB) under the ticker "SAV".