By initiating a decarbonization strategy at its Barroso Lithium Project in northern Portugal Savannah Resources takes another step towards ensuring that lithium provided to the European value chain results in the production of ‘net zero’ lithium-ion batteries.
The main goal of this roadmap is to promote a responsible European lithium value chain. The company expects the tailored decarbonization strategy to be ready for implementation at the Barroso Lithium Project in northern Portugal, in Q2 2022.
To that effect, Savannah has signed an agreement with ECOPROGRESSO, from QUADRANTE GROUP, an international leader in multiple aspects of environmental management including carbon management and mitigation and adaptation strategies to climate change.
This follows up on Savannah’s commitment last November to move towards ‘net zero’ Scope 1 and 2
emissions at the Project while also targeting the reduction of its Scope 3 emissions.
ECOPROGRESSO’s work will consist of three phases:
- Phase 1: Updating the estimate of the Project’s greenhouse gases (‘GHG’) emissions based on international guidelines, and defining targets for overall GHG reduction
- Phase 2: Working with sector specialists in zero-emissions vehicle and equipment manufacturing, automation, and control systems, to define and prioritize the key decarbonizing initiatives
- Phase 3: Defining the implementation of a decarbonization roadmap aligned with the Project’s overall operational strategy, and designing a stakeholder engagement plan with specific initiatives to involve the main stakeholders across the value chain in the global emissions reduction strategy
David Archer, CEO of Savannah describes this agreement as embodying the company’s commitment to responsible mining, from social and environmental points of view: “this commitment is not only an appropriate action for Savannah to take in terms of its own environmental responsibilities, but also helps to identify the Barroso Lithium Project to the growing number of consumers which place considerable emphasis and value on minimizing the environmental impact associated with raw material supply.”
Savannah’s CEO is confident that “the appointment of ECOPROGRESSO / QUADRANTE Group follows on from the commitment Savannah made last November on moving towards reducing the Scope 1 and 2 emissions at the Barroso Lithium Project to net-zero once we are in production and, ultimately, to a position of net-zero life-of-mine and targeting the reduction of its Scope 3 emissions in collaboration with ECOPROGRESSO and its future customers.
Quadrante is a Portuguese company with significant domestic and international experience in disciplines such as carbon management meaning it is ideally placed to help us to devise and implement a focused strategy which will help to deliver our net-zero goal in a timely manner. Their work, along with additional work we expect to undertake with other expert consultants and service providers in related fields, will be crucial in making the Barroso Lithium Project a source of low-carbon, ideally net-zero, lithium for use in the battery value chain of Europe.”
Margarida Magina, Head of Environment and Sustainability at QUADRANTE Group said “ECOPROGRESSO is delighted to be working with Savannah on devising and delivering its decarbonization strategy for the Barroso Lithium Project. As a QUADRANTE Group company, we have specific environmental, mining, industry and energy know-how, which allows us to have a holistic approach, envisioning mining operations from development to decommissioning, with a strong commitment with mining decarbonization strategies.”
The Head of Environment and Sustainability at QUADRANTE Group emphasizes that both companies have common goals, therefore this will have a successful outcome for everyone: “We will deliver an integrated package which will cover all three scopes, driving the Barroso Lithium Project towards Net-Zero. We propose to develop The Barroso Lithium Project’s Decarbonization Strategy, identifying a set of initiatives, its benefits-cost assessment based on carbon abatement cost curve and a consolidated roadmap for implementation. Once the work is complete, all stakeholders will be able to see that the Project, and Portugal, can be a responsible, low carbon source of this critical raw material for Europe’s energy transition.”
Background information:
- Scope 1 emissions relate to the direct GHG emissions that a company produces from owned or controlled sources, for example from running petrol or diesel vehicles.
- Scope 2 emissions relate to a company’s indirect GHG emissions from the generation of purchased electricity and other forms of non-renewable power.
- Scope 3 emissions cover all other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain, for example, the transport of raw materials and finished products.
About SAVANNAH
Savannah is the owner of the Barroso Lithium Project, located in Northern Portugal which contains the most significant spodumene lithium resource in Western Europe. With a positive Scoping Study which outlined a conventional mineral project and concentrator operation producing 175,000t of spodumene concentrate per annum, Savannah is progressing the development and environmental licensing of the Project. A Definitive Feasibility Study is underway, and Portugal’s environmental regulator is currently evaluating Savannah’s Environmental Impact Assessment study.
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”.
About ECOPROGRESSO - QUADRANTE Group
Founded in 2002, ECOPROGRESSO is a Portuguese consulting company providing Environmental, Sustainability, Climate Change and Resources Management services, with focus on sustainability strategies. ECOPROGRESSO was the first mover in Portugal focusing on carbon management and climate change business. Currently the company offers a wide range of services, which includes carbon management, sustainability, climate support projects, public policies, green investments and carbon compensation projects, ensuring our client’s carbon neutral status with our own brand Carbonfree®.
As a QUADRANTE Group company, ECOPROGRESSO combines forces with a global Engineering, Architecture, Environment and Sustainability Services Group, with offices in three continents (Europe, Africa and Latin America) and extensive experience in Buildings, Transports, Industry and Energy, Water Utilities, Environment and Construction Management and Supervision. The types of Environmental services provided by QUADRANTE Group range from Environmental Management Planning, Strategic Environmental Assessments, and specific studies that integrate the environmental licensing of projects and/or accompany the various phases of a project: Environmental Due Diligence, Environmental Feasibility Study, Environmental Impact Studies, Environmental Compliance Report of the Execution Project, and Environmental Monitoring.
