Boticas, Vila Real, Portugal, June 1, 2026 (Lusa) - Savannah Resources gave assurances on Monday that it is operating without “any breach of the law or improper conduct”, stating that it has not been served with “any interim injunction” by the Mirandela court in relation to the Barroso lithium mine in northern Portugal.
In a press release, the company, which intends to extract lithium in the Covas do Barroso area, in Boticas, Vila Real region, denies “any breach of the law or unauthorised operations”, contrary to “what the opposition group has sought to suggest in various statements since last week”.
In a statement released today, the directors of the community land in the Parish of Covas do Barroso states that the Administrative and Tax Court of Mirandela has "accepted the interim injunction filed on Wednesday to suspend the effects of the administrative easement and the work arising from it until its legality has been assessed", adding that Savannah is "obliged to halt the work".
Savannah reported at 4.00 pm that, “to date, it has not yet been notified of any interim injunction by the Administrative and Tax Court of Mirandela”.
Thus, “the geotechnical work necessary for the development of the Barroso Lithium Project continue to proceed as normal, in light of the administrative easement granted by the secretary of state for energy”, it added, justifying the clarification as a “pre-emptive response to the now customary various acts of intimidation (on and off site) by the opposition group in Covas do Barroso”.
"This is yet another manoeuvre aimed solely at creating negative publicity and disinformation about the project. In strict compliance with the law, as soon as the notification arrives, we will halt the work, as we did last time, as confirmed by the national guard (the GNR) and subsequently by the court, and we will once again await the court’s ruling," says the company.
The Administrative and Tax Court of Mirandela has accepted the application for an interim injunction to suspend the second administrative easement associated with the Barroso mine in Boticas and the work currently underway, according to a document to which Lusa had access.
In its order of 29 May, the court admitted the interim injunction filed by the directors of the communal lands of the Parish of Covas do Barroso against the ministry for the environment and energy, giving interested parties 10 days to respond.
The directors of the communal lands filed an injunction on Monday to suspend the second administrative easement associated with the Barroso mine, published in the official government gazette on 6 May.
This body states that the “administrative easement allows the company to occupy community and private land against the will of the owners and co-owners, repeating a pattern of coercive imposition already denounced during the first administrative easement associated with the mining project”.
“The first easement included work carried out outside the concession area, restrictions on the movement of residents on the common lands, and the presence of private security in the village, creating a climate of surveillance and intimidation amongst the residents,” it added.
The ministry for the environment had already authorised a first easement in December 2024, which led to the filing of an injunction by landowners, resulting in the suspension of prospecting work for 15 days in February 2025.
The mining project was approved by the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), which issued a conditional favourable Environmental Impact Statement in 2023.
The company intends to start construction in 2027 and begin production in 2028.
ACG/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
