Savannah Resources Plc has announced the first JORC-compliant Ore Reserve for its Barroso Lithium Project in Portugal, marking a major milestone for the development.
The maiden Probable Ore Reserve totals 20 million tonnes grading 0.99% lithium oxide and underpins the 14-year production profile used in the project’s Phase 1 Definitive Feasibility Study.
The reserve has been estimated from approximately 27 million tonnes of Measured and Indicated Resources within the project’s overall JORC-compliant Mineral Resource of 39.2 million tonnes grading 1.05% lithium oxide.
Savannah said the reserve is based on a conservative spodumene concentrate price assumption of US$1,200 per tonne for 6% lithium oxide concentrate, compared with current spot prices of around US$2,250 per tonne.
The company believes there is significant scope to expand reserves further through conversion of existing Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources.
Additional upside could also come from the project’s unchanged Exploration Target of between 35 million and 62 million tonnes.
Chief executive Emanuel Proença described the maiden reserve as an important milestone and said the 20Mt estimate provides the foundation for the project’s initial 14-year production plan.
He added that further drilling and resource conversion work could materially extend the life of the Barroso project over time.
Barroso is designated as a Strategic Project under the European Critical Raw Materials Act and is described by Savannah as Europe’s largest spodumene lithium deposit.
