Aim-listed Savannah Resources has entered into an exclusive due diligence and option agreement to acquire a three-block mining lease for lithium, feldspar and quartz, covering key areas of newly identified lithium pegmatite-bearing structural corridors adjacent to the company’s existing mining lease in northern Portugal.
The 2.94 km2 optioned lease covers areas of land abutting the southern end of the Reservatorio lithium deposit and areas adjacent to the company's Mina do Barroso lithium project.
The option agreement with private Portuguese firm Aldeia & Irmão affords Savannah the opportunity to secure a potential extension to the Reservatorio deposit, which has a current mineral resource estimate of 3.2-million tonnes at 1.0% lithium oxide for 32 000 t, and to identify additional deposits with at least five known spodumene-bearing lithium pegmatites occurring in the tenure area.
Following the completion of due diligence, Savannah may exercise an exclusive option to acquire the mining lease, once granted. The option agreement is valid for about 12 months during which Savannah can conduct exploration.
"The option over the Aldeia ground will be accretive to the overall development of Mina do Barroso as it opens the opportunity to secure potential strike extensions to the existing Reservatorio deposit, while also offering the potential to discover additional deposits.
“These extensions and discoveries could, in turn, increase the overall resource of the project, extend the current defined mine life of 11 years, and/or potentially increase annual production,” Savannah CEO David Archer explained on Wednesday.
The new ground will also give the company additional flexibility in terms of configuring the layout of site infrastructure.