Environment agency rejects Argemela lithium mine
The concession contract with Neomia—Minérios Argemela (Almina Group) was signed in 2021, but the mining could only start after favourable or conditionally favourable Environmental Impact Assessment.
The Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) has issued an opinion stating that there is a lack of conformity in the Environmental Impact Study for the Argemela Mine, which covers the municipalities of Covilhã and Fundão.
“It appears that the project does not have the level of detail required for the execution project phase in which it was presented,” the document, dated 30 December 2024, states.
The report mentions that this situation “constitutes a limitation to the identification and assessment of impacts, requiring a wide range of complementary information on the various components of the project and various environmental factors”.
“In the evaluation carried out by the Evaluation Commission, gaps were identified at the project level and fundamental and determining environmental factors for the evaluation to be carried out, given the nature of the project in question.”
Given the non-conformities pointed out, which led to the “outright rejection of the request for assessment and the consequent cancellation of the procedure”, the APA indicated that, to prepare a new Environmental Impact Study, “the shortcomings pointed out must be remedied”.
In light of this decision, the Group for the Preservation of the Serra da Argemela (GPSA) expects the Ministry of the Environment to declare the concession contract null and void.
“We believe that, because of the Evaluation Commission’s recommendations, the error of authorising mining in Argemela will be recognised once and for all,” said the president of the GPSA, Gabriela Margarido, in statements to the Lusa news agency.
The association’s representative emphasised that the news of the Environmental Impact Study’s rejection was received “with the comfort of those who, for more than eight years, have been fighting against very superior forces that have systematically devalued the dangers of mining, especially open-pit mining, in that location”.
Gabriela Margarido emphasised that the GPSA is not against mining, but believes that any economic activity cannot jeopardise people’s heritage, life and health.
The group’s representative added that, “since there was a unanimous vote in parliament against this project, particularly given its location, the least that could be expected is for it to have already been cancelled”.
The Argemela mine is located in the Barco and Coutada parishes, in the municipality of Covilhã, and the parishes of Silvares and Lavacolhos, in the municipality of Fundão, in the Castelo Branco district.
Lusa tried to get clarification from the concession holder, Neomia, but received no reply.
The process for a mining concession for lithium and other minerals in the Argemela mountain range began in 2011.
The application for the concession, covering an area of 403.7 hectares, was published in 2017 and renewed in 2020.
The mining concession contract with Neomia—Minérios Argemela (Almina Group) was signed on 28 October 2021, but the concessionaire could only start mining after obtaining a favourable or conditionally favourable Environmental Impact Study.