The ZERO environmental association defended today the "rejection" of the new underground Gavião mine project in Aljustrel, Beja district, proposed by the Almina company, the local mine's concessionaire. The public consultation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) ended on Monday, but ZERO considered that the project "does not meet the conditions for approval," presenting multiple technical and strategic flaws.
Almina intends to invest around 250 million euros in extracting 1.5 million tonnes of ore per year, using existing facilities. According to the association, approximately 85,000 annual tonnes of copper and zinc concentrates will be exported by truck through the ports of Setúbal and Huelva in Spain, without the project explaining how the extracted resources could contribute to creating added value in Portugal.
ZERO criticized that the EIA does not assess rail transport, noting that Aljustrel's ore was transported by train for decades and that the railway continues to be used in other mines of the Iberian Pyrite Belt. The study also does not compare emissions, energy consumption, atmospheric pollution, noise, and infrastructure costs between diesel trucks, electric trucks, and electrified railway.
Among other problems, the association warned that the washing plant produces "enormous quantities of rejects" with sulfides that can generate acid drainage, and that the climate assessment presents contradictory data and does not allow knowing how much energy will be consumed nor how many greenhouse gases will be emitted. ZERO considered that the project represents a "kind of mining colony" model that leaves environmental and social costs in Portugal, and warned that if projects of this type are licensed, the Green Industrial Strategy may arrive too late.
