Boticas, Portugal, July 3, 2026 (Lusa) - An expert from a Canadian university has concluded that the air quality studies used to support the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Portugal's Barroso lithium mine in Boticas have “significant limitations”, according to an association based in Covas do Barroso.
The association Unidos em Defesa de Covas do Barroso (UDCB) announced on Friday that it is organising a public meeting on Saturday in Boticas, in the district of Vila Real, to analyse the potential impacts of the Barroso lithium mine on air quality and to assess the environmental studies that formed the basis for the project’s approval.
The mining project was given the go-ahead by the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), which issued a conditional favourable EIS in 2023. Savannah Resources intends to begin construction in 2027 and commence production in 2028.
The presentation, organised by UDCB – an association set up to campaign against the mine – will focus on the work carried out by Professor Douw G. Steyn, a specialist in air quality and environmental meteorology at the University of British Columbia in Canada, who analysed the technical and environmental documentation produced as part of the EIS process for the Barroso Mine.
The association stated today in a press release that, according to the analysis presented by the expert, the air quality studies used to support the EIS have “significant limitations”, including “short-term monitoring campaigns, insufficient characterisation of local meteorological conditions, inadequately described modelling, and a lack of information considered essential for assessing the potential impacts of dust emissions associated with mining operations”.
Douw G. Steyn’s report concluded, according to the UDCB, that the “information currently available does not allow us to determine with certainty what the impacts of the mine will be on air quality, human health and the environment”, thereby calling into question “the conclusions that underpinned the project’s environmental approval”.
In this report, the expert classified the “lack of a transparent explanation regarding the dispersion model used to understand the spatial (and temporal) distribution of the pollutants emitted” as a “serious omission”.
He called for “a comprehensive analysis of the heavy metal content in the materials to be extracted, with a consequent adjustment of the monitoring plans” and pointed out that one of the “dust mitigation measures consists of wetting the roads as a suppression mechanism”, however, he emphasised that “this region suffers from a well-known water shortage, especially in summer” and that this is “an issue that cannot be ignored”.
With regard to air quality, the EIS issued in 2023 stated that “the operation of the Barroso mine will result in minor negative impacts, and it was concluded that the limit values established by current legislation will be complied with”.
It further concluded that “the anticipated impacts will be temporary, occurring mainly during the mine’s operational period, and will be minimisable and reversible following the closure and landscape restoration of the area”, requiring the implementation of an air quality monitoring programme with four sampling sites (Covas do Barroso, Dornelas, Antigo and Vila Grande).
The measurements to be carried out in the first year must cover a minimum of 14% of the year (52 days).
At this meeting, according to the UDCB, the report’s conclusions will be presented to the public, a debate will be held, and queries will be addressed regarding one of the environmental aspects which, in the association’s view, is “most relevant” to the proposed open-cast mining project for this region.
In May, the ministry for the environment authorised a second administrative easement, allowing Savannah to access communal and private land for geotechnical work; this was challenged in court through an interim injunction filed by the Governing Board of the Communal Lands of the Parish of Covas do Barroso, which led to the suspension of prospecting activities for around 20 days.
The concessionaire announced on Monday that work would resume after the ministry for the environment issued a Reasoned Resolution invoking the public interest of the project.
PLI/AYLS // AYLS
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