Portugal's government plans to launch a long-delayed tender of lithium prospecting licenses in 2025 as it seeks to make the country a top European supplier of critical metals for the green transition, it said on Tuesday.
The Minister also claimed that "not one gram of lithium" mined in the country "will be processed outside Portugal" and that the metal will not be sold raw. The Government is currently drafting the specifications to launch the international bid for granting the rights to mine and search for lithium, a process that can last up to five years.
REUTERS/Rafael Marchante Purchase Licensing Rights LISBON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Portugal will not commit to setting a new date for a long-awaited auction of lithium mining licences as it awaits the conclusion of ongoing environmental impact studies at two sites, Energy Secretary Joao Galamba said on Wednesday.
Portugal's lithium reserves are considered central to Europe's increasing demand for electric cars, but the villagers say it doesn't justify ruining their way of life. "It would destroy everything," says Aida Fernandes, as she looks across the valley where four opencast pits would border the village of Covas do Barroso in northern Portugal.
The Barroso Lithium Project is located in northern Portugal approximately 145km northeast of the City of Porto and the industrial port of Leixões.
An ancient farming village in the Portuguese mountains is fighting plans for an opencast lithium mine right on its doorstep. The lithium would be used for electric car batteries and is described by the mining company as critical for Europe's transition to green energy.