Portugal's Environmental Protection Agency (APA) announced on Thursday that it has given the green light, under certain conditions, to a second project in the country to extract lithium, a mineral used to make batteries and essential for the energy transition.
Portugal, which has Europe’s largest lithium reserves, is already a major producer, but its production is currently entirely used in ceramics and glassware. “As in similar projects, the assessment took into account the strategic importance of lithium for achieving carbon neutrality and energy transition goals,” APA explained in a press release.
In October 2022: A huge lithium mine will be built in France, in the Massif Central region.
The two projects
The first lithium mine project, carried out by the British company Savannah in the municipality of Boticas, in the north of the country, was granted a conditional license by the APA last May. The project approved on Thursday, designed by the Portuguese company Lusorecursos in the nearby town of Montalegre, also provides for the construction of a refining plant.
These two mining projects are being contested by environmental NGOs and part of the local population in this rural area famous for its beef production and known to be home to the Iberian wolf.
Lithium, along with cobalt or nickel, is one of the minerals essential for the electric batteries that will replace the heat engines of cars. In order to reduce its dependence on imports, especially from China, the European Union is preparing to open mines and refineries to process it.
