"We confirm that we have been notified of the precautionary measure. We were expecting it and we complied with it as normal. The teams on the ground have temporarily stopped the work they have been doing over the last two months and are now only carrying out security manoeuvres," reads a response from the company to the Lusa news agency.

In the same response, Savannah states that "the precautionary measure is a right established by law, as are its consequences for everyone."

"With serenity, we will treat this process like the many others already filed by the same opposition group, and we hope to return to work quickly," the response concludes.

At issue is a precautionary measure filed by landowners against the Ministry of the Environment, which suspended the administrative easement that allowed Savannah Resources to carry out mining prospecting on land in villages in Boticas.

The precautionary measure was delivered to the Administrative and Fiscal Court of Mirandela and, in a statement, the association Unidos em Defesa de Covas de Barroso (UDCB) explained that the “admission order suspends all work in the easement area until a future decision by the court”.

The UDCB said this decision is taken under article 128 of the Code of Procedure in Administrative Courts (CPTA).

The Secretary of State for Energy, Maria João Pereira, issued an order, published on December 6 in the Official Gazette, which authorises the establishment of an administrative easement, for a period of one year, which allows the company Savannah to access private land for lithium prospecting.

This decision was contested by affected property owners and mayors.

Contacted by Lusa, the president of UDCB, Nelson Gomes, explained that three owners filed the precautionary measure to stop the easement, but that the suspensive effect covers all land affected by the government decision.

Nelson Gomes told Lusa that the measure was admitted by the court on January 30, but, as he explained, it only takes effect from the moment the parties are notified of the decision, which happened on Wednesday.

Therefore, he stressed, for now, “work has to stop”.

“Our objective is precisely to block the project because, at this moment, there is total destruction of both private land and vacant land. This invasion that is happening makes no sense to us, it is a very undemocratic process that we do not understand,” said the association’s president.

After the announcement of the administrative easement in December, the company Savannah Resources announced that it could “resume fieldwork and necessary drilling” for the definitive study (DFS) and the environmental compliance process of the Barroso lithium project, expecting to complete these stages in 2025.

The company has already said it plans to start production in 2027.

The Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) has made lithium exploration at the Barroso mine environmentally viable by issuing a favourable Environmental Impact Statement (DIA) conditional on May 2023.

The Lusa agency contacted the Ministry of Environment and Energy and is awaiting a response.