EU Commission classifies portuguese copper, lithium mining projects as strategic

The European Commission on Tuesday chose four projects in Portugal – three lithium and one copper – as strategic because they concern critical raw materials, out of a total of 47 in the European Union (EU) with this ‘stamp’ of credibility.

“The Commission has adopted, for the first time, a list of 47 strategic projects to increase national capacities for strategic raw materials, which in turn will strengthen the value chain of European raw materials and diversify supply sources,” the institution announced in a statement.

According to Brussels, the new strategic projects are in line with the new Critical Raw Materials Act, which aims to ensure that the extraction, processing and recycling of strategic raw materials in Europe meets 10%, 40% and 25% of EU demand respectively by 2030.

Specifically, four strategic projects were chosen in Portugal: a copper processing and extraction project at Somincor’s Neves Corvo mine in Castro Verde in the Alentejo region and three other lithium projects, such as Savannah Resources‘ Barroso project in Boticas, Lusorecursos’ Romano mine in Montalegre and Lifthium energy’s Lift One (owned by the José de Mello and Bondalti group) in Estarreja, northern Portugal.

“By helping Europe meet these objectives, the new strategic projects make a significant contribution to Europe’s green and digital transitions, while supporting the European defence and aerospace industries,” says the European Commission.

These 47 new strategic projects are located in 13 EU member states which, in addition to Portugal, include Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Sweden, Finland, Poland and Romania.

“These projects were selected because they contribute to the EU’s security of supply in strategic raw materials, fulfil environmental, social and governance criteria and are technically feasible. In addition, the selected projects have also demonstrated clear cross-border benefits for the EU,” explains the EU executive.

In order to become operational, the 47 strategic projects have an expected overall capital investment of €22.5 billion.

Among the beneficiaries of this distinction – which in practice is a ‘seal’ of credibility from the EU – is the coordinated support from the Commission, member states and financial institutions to become operational, namely with regard to access to finance and support to establish links with the relevant buyers.

According to Brussels, these projects will also benefit from simplified licensing provisions to ensure predictability for project promoters while safeguarding environmental, social and governance standards.

The Critical Raw Materials Act came into force on 23 May 2024 and provides that the licensing process will not exceed 27 months for extraction projects and 15 months for others.

Currently, licensing processes in the EU can take between five and 10 years.

Portugal has the largest lithium reserves in Europe and the eighth largest in the world.