Portugal on Friday announced the forthcoming opening of a tender for lithium exploration licenses in six regions of this country, which has the largest European reserves of an essential metal for the energy transition.
The auction, which will be launched within two months, includes six of the eleven potential deposits identified. The other five were left out of the bid for environmental reasons, Environment Minister Joao Pedro Matos Fernandes explained at a press conference in Porto (north).
The exploration concessions, which will have a five-year term, should lead to mining projects in the case of metal detection, which will be added to the three deposits already detected in Portugal.
The most advanced project, carried out by the British company Savannah in the community of Boticas (northeast), is awaiting approval from the Portuguese Environmental Agency to begin its activities.
The next auction will require that an “industrial project” be included in the proposals so that the extracted lithium is treated in the country.
“Not a single gram of that lithium will be treated outside Portugal,” said Minister Matos Fernandes.
Lithium, along with cobalt and nickel, are essential metals for the manufacture of electric batteries that replace the thermal engines of automobiles to combat global warming.
The European Union is trying to open its own mines and refineries to reduce its dependence on lithium imports from China.
Portuguese oil group Galp Energia and Swedish battery maker Northvolt announced an agreement in December to build one of Europe’s first lithium refineries in Portugal.
Lithium is extracted mainly in Australia and South America (Argentina, Bolivia and Chile), while China refines 60% of this “white gold” from the energy transition and converts it into lithium carbonate or hydroxide.
In Europe, deposits were detected in Portugal, Serbia, Germany, the Czech Republic and France.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx