Savannah Resources (AIM:SAV), developer of the Barroso Lithium Project in northern Portugal, has appointed Sedgman as the front-end engineering design (FEED) contractor for the project's processing plant.
The AIM-listed company's Barroso project is designated Europe's largest spodumene lithium deposit and a "Strategic Project" under the European Critical Raw Materials Act, with a Phase-1 Definitive Feasibility Study already completed that models a 14-year mine life and an unlevered post-tax net present value of $913m.
Sedgman, a minerals processing engineering and project delivery firm that previously ran metallurgical testwork and process flowsheet design for Savannah's DFS, won the role through a competitive process against multiple engineering firms.
Over the next eight months, Sedgman will lead the FEED programme, focusing on process design and the procurement of 13 long-lead equipment packages that Savannah considers critical to keeping the project on schedule toward a final investment decision.
Savannah will finance down payments and associated costs for that equipment from its roughly $53m in cash and short-term treasury reserves.
Alongside the contractor appointment, the Barroso project has been certified compliant with the ISO 14001 environmental management standard following an independent audit by Bureau Veritas.
Savannah is also targeting roughly 30 additional hires across engineering, procurement, health and safety, and other disciplines in the coming months, which it said would expand its team by roughly 75%, with further growth planned through 2027 and 2028.
That recruitment push follows a FEED staffing update in September, when the company said it had hired a FEED engineer and was still recruiting a project director and a contracts and procurement manager among ten roles targeted for completion by the end of the year.
"As we continue to prepare for construction next year, more significant news flow can be expected during the remainder of the year," chief executive Emanuel Proença said, pointing to the planned submission of the RECAPE environmental dossier, conditional project finance offers and an update on a second offtake partnership.
Savannah has said it expects to submit the RECAPE dossier to Portugal's regulator in the fourth quarter, with a decision due around the end of February 2027.