Lithium mineral resource project developer Savannah Resources has recommenced drilling as it moves towards the finalisation of the definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the Barroso lithium project, in Portugal, which is Europe’s largest spodumene lithium deposit.

This second phase of the DFS drill programme will include a total of 117 drillholes for about 13 000 m split into about 9 000 m of reverse circulation drilling and around 4 000 m of diamond drilling, and will cover resource, metallurgical and geotechnical drilling at the Grandão, Reservatório and Pinheiro deposits.

“Following the award of the temporary land access order in December, our technical team began immediate preparation of the ground for the subsequent second phase of DFS-related drilling. With numerous drill pads now constructed, we are delighted to announce that drilling is back under way at the project,” Savannah CEO Emanuel Proença said.

“This is a substantial programme, which will provide much of the outstanding data we need to upgrade the project’s existing 28-million tons JORC [Joint Ore Reserves Committee] resources, as well as finalise pit designs and other technical aspects of the project.

“This will generate significant news flow over the coming months, which we look forward to sharing with the market,” he said.

Three drilling contractors, all of which have worked on previous drilling campaigns at the project, have been engaged to provide 2 reverse circulation and 2 diamond drill rigs to ensure rapid completion of the work programme.

Preparations for the drilling campaign began before Christmas and, as of January 7, vegetation had been cleared for 64 drill pads, with 27 pads constructed.

Further, the resource drilling was planned internally by Savannah’s technical team, with supervision from the independent resource signatory.

A total of 102 drillholes for 11 311 m are planned to upgrade the inferred resources into the indicated and measured categories which is required for their inclusion into the DFS and conversion into JORC reserves.

The metallurgical drilling objective was adjusted following the conclusion of the last drilling programme where a new high-grade zone of lithium mineralisation was identified at Pinheiro.

The additional works are targeted at testing the metallurgical performance of this zone and the second lens of the Pinheiro deposit, which to date has only received limited work.

A total of three drillholes, adding up to 250 m are planned to allow enough sample for the additional detailed metallurgical testing to be completed for the DFS, Savannah Resources said.

Further, geotechnical drilling will be focused on the planned pit wall locations to complete final designs, it added.

The geotechnical drilling now consists of 12 drillholes, adding up to 1 400 m, which should generate enough samples for the geotechnical testing required for the final design of the pits, the company said.

Meanwhile, the company said the assay results will be released when received, which is expected to be from late first quarter of 2025 onwards. Similarly, it will complete resource updates for the Grandão, Reservatório and Pinheiro deposits once results from the drilling are available.