The EIA for the Borralha mine, in the municipality of Montalegre, district of Vila Real, is open for public consultation until 17 November and provides for the underground mining of tungsten in a mining area that has been decommissioned since 1986. The final decision on the Environmental Impact Assessment is the responsibility of the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) and is expected in January.

In a statement sent to the Lusa news agency, the No to Mines Movement - Montalegre reinforced its opposition to mining in Borralha, adding that the local community opposes the reopening of the mine due to “environmental, social and public health concerns”.

It also pointed out that “technical gaps remain” in the EIA that “prevent a complete and reliable environmental assessment”. The company Minerália signed a concession contract with the State in 2021 for underground mining in Borralha.

It is in this context that the EIA for the Borralha mine has been under public consultation since 7 October and will remain so until 17 November, for a period of 41 days. As of 10:30 a.m. today, 179 comments had been submitted via the Participa portal. The Borralha mines opened in 1903, closed in 1986, and were once one of the main mining centres for tungsten exploration in Portugal.

Located next to the river system

The company wants to explore tungsten and, additionally, produce copper and tin concentrates in an area whose nearest villages are Borralha, Caniçó, and Paredes de Salto. According to the non-technical summary, Minerália – Minas, Geotecnia e Construções Lda. proposes underground mining for a period of 15 years.

The movement contextualised that the Borralha mine is located in the parish of Salto, two kilometres from the Venda Nova dam, which is part of the Cávado and Rabagão river system that supplies drinking water to thousands of people in the north of the country.

It is also located, it added, about six kilometres from the boundaries of the Peneda Gerês National Park, in the heart of the Gerês-Xurés Transfrontier Biosphere Reserve, and is an integral part of Barroso, classified as a World Agricultural Heritage Site. Last week, the APA held an online information session on the project.

Highlighting serious inconsistencies

Credits: Wikipedia;

The movement considered that the “session highlighted serious inconsistencies between the EIA, the promoter’s statements and local technical and social observations”, highlighting the "lack of data on radioactive metals and radiological risk, contradictions regarding the mining model (underground or hybrid), weaknesses in the safety and structural stability studies of the old galleries, the absence of a transparent methodology in the sociological study and the lack of confidence of the population and local entities in the process.

“According to this organisation, which opposes mining, during the session the company assured that it “will clean up all existing environmental liabilities before activation and treat all waste during mining, safeguarding water resources." However, according to the movement, “a new 12-hectare waste area is being planned, which raises the question of how the waste problem is “solved”. Another concern is the eviction of homes in the area near the mine and the impact on the Iberian wolf.

The movement also called for participation in the ongoing public consultation on the EIA, which was initially considered “non-compliant” and subsequently supplemented.

In the summer of 2021, a slow protest march was held against mining in Borralha, and in 2024, the Barroso People and Nature Association warned that surveys were being carried out on land allegedly polluted by heavy metals, an accusation classified as false by Minerália.