Savannah Resources PLC AGM Statement and New Corporate Presentation (0723O)
June 08 2022 - 2:01AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMSAV
RNS Number : 0723O
Savannah Resources PLC
08 June 2022
8 June 2022
Savannah Resources Plc
(AIM: SAV, FWB: SAV and SWB: SAV) ('Savannah', 'Savannah
Resources' or the 'Company')
AGM Statement and New Corporate Presentation
Savannah hosts its Annual General Meeting ("AGM") today at 09:00
BST at The Royal Institution of Great Britain, 21 Albemarle Street,
London W1S 4BS. Ahead of the AGM, the Company is providing the
Chairman's Statement below. Additionally, Chief Executive Officer,
David Archer, will present an overview of the Company and its
current activities. An updated Corporate Presentation will be
available today for download on the Company's website at
https://www.savannahresources.com/investors/presentations/
Chairman's Statement
"2022 remains a critical year for Savannah as we progress the
Barroso Lithium Project in Northern Portugal (the "Project").
Before outlining our progress and outlook, it is worth reminding
ourselves of the size of the prize: the Project is Europe's most
significant lithium spodumene deposit, hosting a very sizeable
resource of 27MT containing 285,900t of Lithium Oxide (Li(2) O) at
an average grade of 1.06% Li(2) O, which we believe is sufficient
to supply a material proportion of Europe's lithium demand over the
coming decades. The Project also benefits from a relatively simple
mining process, a now defined process flowsheet and excellent
infrastructure in a developed, Western European country. We are
seeking to bring the Project into development during a time of
constrained supply, increasing demand and increased pricing for
lithium which directly benefits the already compelling economics
the Project enjoys. In short, the Project should be at the centre
of Europe's growing lithium value chain, the importance of which
has only been further highlighted by recent supply chain problems
and the need to build energy independence with renewables. This was
underscored in May when the European Commission launched the
REPowerEU initiative: a plan to rapidly reduce Europe's dependence
on Russian fossil fuels and fast-forward the green transition.
Our key goals for the year remain to secure the EIA approval for
the development of the Project, and an offtake/investment agreement
for our lithium concentrate production.
As to the first goal, we share the frustrations of our
shareholders with the time that the EIA review process has taken.
We passed the second anniversary of lodging the EIA on 25 May 2022
and the executive team continues to work hard to bring this to a
resolution. It is important to note that the finalisation of the
EIA is a political process over which Savannah has little control.
This time last year, we had expectations that the decision would
have been received by now. However, in November 2021 an impromptu
General Election was called for 30 January 2022. This impacted the
timing on the EIA as appointments to the relevant cabinet positions
were not made until March 2022. We are confident though that the
new administration is now in a position to make a decision and
remain hopeful of a positive outcome.
In the meantime, Savannah continues to manage its own conduct
and responses to the challenges we face. We have acknowledged in
previous announcements the opposition the Project faces from some
local people. We continue to engage actively with the communities
in a constructive manner and have a number of initiatives which, in
aggregate, illustrate our commitment to them and the region
generally. We have four major ESG programmes - the Benefit Sharing
Plan, the Good Neighbour Plan, a Land Stewardship Plan, and we are
developing a plan for the creation of community owned companies
which could provide contracted services such as progressive
rehabilitation over the life of the Project. At a regional level we
estimate that the Project will bring some 200 direct jobs, 400-600
indirect jobs and will help to address the demographic challenges
the region faces. At a national level, the discovery of lithium has
already catalysed the announcement of two major lithium refining
initiatives in the country - the Galp/Northvolt refinery at Setúbal
and an alignment between Bondalti and Neometals.
More encouragingly, our cautious approach to offtake and
investment has been vindicated as we have seen a near 800% increase
in the price of lithium concentrate over the last 12 months to
USD$6,200 per tonne, far in excess of the price we assumed in our
Scoping Study of USD$685 per tonne.
I noted earlier the size of the prize that we have firmly in our
sights. We retain that in mind during all of our negotiations. As a
result of the current macro environment in the European and global
lithium markets, and the growing concern around future supply among
consumers of lithium feedstock, we find that in 2022 we are in a
great position to secure suitable offtakes and/or partnerships.
This interest will only increase further assuming a positive
decision on the EIA is received.
As a well-funded operator, we have the latitude to be patient
and secure a transaction that reflects the importance and economic
robustness of the Project. We would rather do the right deal that
fairly reflects the Project's value as opposed to the first or
easiest one that may undersell our Project. To that end, we remain
in active discussions with multiple, well-positioned offtake
candidates and are confident that these negotiations will move
forward quickly and beneficially over the coming months.
In short, we believe the market backdrop is hugely supportive
for the development of the Project and we remain convinced of our
Project's excellent potential. We are also keenly aware of the need
to deliver progress during the second half of this year and we are
working relentlessly to unlock the Project's value."
Matthew King
Chairman
Regulatory Information
This Announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of the UK version of the market abuse regulation (EU No. 596/2014)
as it forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("UK MAR").
Savannah Resources - Enabling Europe's energy transition.
**ENDS**
Follow @SavannahRes on Twitter
Follow Savannah Resources on LinkedIn
For further information please visit www.savannahresources.com
or contact:
Savannah Resources PLC Tel: +44 20 7117 2489
David Archer, CEO
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Advisor) Tel: +44 20 3470 0470
David Hignell/ Charlie Bouverat
finnCap Ltd (Joint Broker) Tel: +44 20 7220 0500
Christopher Raggett/ Tim Redfern Tel: +44 20 7653 4000
RBC Capital Markets (Joint Broker)
Farid Dadashev/ Jamil Miah
WH Ireland Limited (Joint Broker) Tel: +44 20 7220 1666
Jessica Cave/ Ben Good (Corporate Finance)
Aimee McCusker (Corporate Broking)
Camarco (Financial PR) Tel: +44 20 3757 4980
Gordon Poole/ Emily Hall
About Savannah
Savannah is the owner of the Barroso Lithium Project, located
close to key infrastructure in Northern Portugal which contains the
most significant spodumene lithium resource in Western Europe.
Following a positive Scoping Study which outlined a conventional
operation producing 175,000t of spodumene concentrate per annum,
Savannah is progressing the development and environmental licencing
of the Barroso Lithium Project. A Definitive Feasibility Study is
underway, and Portugal's environmental regulator is currently
evaluating Savannah's Environmental Impact Assessment study. The
Company is listed and regulated on AIM and the Company's ordinary
shares are also available on the Quotation Board of the Frankfurt
Stock Exchange (FWB) under the symbol FWB: SAV, and the Börse
Stuttgart (SWB) under the ticker "SAV".
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