LONDON: Savannah Resources plc, the resource development company with a portfolio of diversified assets, has entered into a term sheet to acquire the minority 25% shareholding in Savannah Lithium Lda, which owns the Mina do Barroso Lithium Project in Portugal. The Transaction will take Savannah’s ownership of the Project to 100% ahead of the completion of the Feasibility Study and a decision to mine.
In connection with the Transaction, Savannah has retained Hannam & Partners (H&P Advisory Limited) as financial advisors.
Commenting on the Transaction, Savannah’s CEO David Archer, said: “Since acquiring our initial 75% shareholding in Mina do Barroso in 2017, we have rapidly progressed the Project including delineating a 23.5Mt spodumene-bearing JORC compliant resource and completing a positive Scoping Study. At the same time, legislators and battery end users in the region have come to appreciate the need for Europe to have domestic sources of battery raw materials as the region seeks to reduce emissions from the transport sector via the transition to Electric Vehicles (‘EVs’).
As a result, we see great economic and strategic value in the Project and we are pleased to have the opportunity to increase our stake to 100%. We believe this Transaction, which will give Savannah complete control of the Project, provides welcome simplification, clarity and valuable optionality as we seek to progress our negotiations regarding lithium and co-product offtake agreements along with the Project’s proposed financing.
The Company remains focused on completing the Project’s Definitive Feasibility Study and Environmental Impact Assessment and permitting process, which will allow a development decision to be made. I look forward to updating shareholders on further developments in due course.”
Commenting on the Transaction, Geoffrey Stewart, CEO of Slipstream, said: “Following completion of the Transaction, we will be fully aligned with Savannah’s shareholders. We strongly support and endorse the Board’s strategy and the management team’s sustained efforts to rapidly advance the development of the Mina do Barroso Project. It has been a truly remarkable achievement that, in under two years, Savannah has developed what was a promising exploration project into what is likely to be Europe’s first significant producer of high-grade, low impurity spodumene concentrate. We are excited and confident that the Project will become both economically and strategically important in Europe’s rapidly developing EV industry.”[the_ad id=”31605”]