After lithium, Lusorecursos asks for permission to explore gold in Braga
The Braga company has announced it has asked the state to grant an experimental gold exploration license in Vila Verde, Braga, days after it has filed a similar request to explore lithium in Montalegre.
The Lusorecursos group, which has been in litigation with Australia's New Lithium because of the lithium prospecting in Sepeda, Montalegre, announced that it had requested the license to explore a gold mine in an area in the municipality of Vila Verde, Braga district. According to a note from the company, which the Business had access to this Monday, December 11, the application for an exploratory exploration license was made by Lusorecursos MRC on the 6th day, the day before the expiration of the license term. - whose contract, valid for five years, had been signed on 7 December 2012.
The request for exploration of the mine in Marrancos, Vila Verde, advanced after the company obtained "positive results regarding the profitability of the mine" during the exploration and research phase. The company also guarantees that it has the "financial and technical capacity" to carry out the work.
"Lusorecursos seeks to preserve the public interest and the natural resources of the country and contribute to the public policies that the value added of this resource is in fact in Portugal and is not captured by companies that often replace the national interest for speculative interest, "said the same note, adding that the company wants to" build an authentic cluster of metals in Portugal "along with other companies in the group.
In the area in question of the concession, which involves the municipalities of Vila Verde, Ponte da Barca and Ponte de Lima, the company had a license to prospect for gold, silver, wolfram and tin. In addition to these two projects (Marrancos and Sepeda), the group also signed - in 2012 and through Lusorecursos MLG - a contract to prospect for gold, silver, wolfram and tin in Melgaço, in addition to having several registered license applications, in accordance with with the website of the Directorate-General for Energy and Geology (DGEG).
The company, which is based in Braga and has Ricardo Pinheiro as one of the partners, had submitted a similar application in the middle of November - an exploration license - for the Sepeda concession, Montalegre, which also expired on December 7 of this year. A process for the exploration of lithium involved in controversy, since the New Lithium claims rights on this area and on other applications of license invoking a signed contract in this sense with the Lusorecursos.
Last week, Australians came forward with their own application for a lithium license in that same concession, arguing that they intend to "protect the company's rights over assets if the Lusorecursos license application is rejected by the DGEG for lack of technical capacity and financial, "even after it has been refused a precautionary measure and the State recognizes Lusorecursos as its interlocutor in this matter.
New Lithium reorients strategy in Europe
On Monday, New Liu also announced that it will focus on the development of European projects in addition to Sepeda's, while ensuring that it will remain committed to the judicial battle to "protect its interests" in that concession and which is "solidly financed".
According to the note, the company will seek new lithium deposits in the north of Portugal in the coming months and expects to obtain from the DGEG "several licenses requested by the company and not superimposed on other companies," further ensuring that the preliminary studies are completed and the teams ready to go to the field as soon as there is a green light for the licenses.
According to the company, the objective is to ensure a greater global resource of this mineral in the region to justify the construction of a lithium carbonate battery plant in the country, an investment that was initially admitted by the company's CEO, David Frances, and which could reach 370 million euros.
In addition to its presence in Portugal, Novo Lithium has announced that it has obtained drilling licenses for the Spodumenberget lithium project in Sweden last week and wants to start drilling in the first quarter of 2018. The shares of Novo Lithium, listed on disallowed Australian, fell 15.25% this Monday, to 0.05 Australian dollars.
2017-12-11 14:28
Paulo Zacarias Gomes, Business
NLI Price at posting:
5.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)