The UIVO Movement warned today of tungsten mining, which will be carried out two kilometers from the municipality of Vinhais, in Spanish territory, and could contaminate the Rabaçal River and affect the Montesinho Natural Park.
In statements to LusaSara Riso, member of this organization based in Vinhais, explained that the company Tungsten San Juan, Galician branch of Eurobattery Minerals, will carry out exploration in A Gudiña, in the province of Ourense, in Galicia. This municipality is located close to the border with the northeast of Trás-os-Montes, which is “just 100 meters from a water line, Ribeira de Pente, in Spain, which will flow into the Rabaçal river, which belongs to the municipality of Vinhais”.
“From the implementation site to the nearest Portuguese villages, because there are no longer Spanish villages downstream of this project, they will all be incredibly affected and all of them are within the perimeter of the Montesinho Natural Park”, pointed.
The open pit mining of tungsten will start in 2026, but Sara Riso highlighted that work is already being carried out on the ground, moving earth and installing a pavilion.
In addition to putting into question the “ecological and human values” of the Montesinho Natural Park and also polluting the Rabaçal river, Sara Riso drew attention to the contamination of a water collection site for human consumption, which is also situated on this river, leading to “a public health problem”.
“We still find it strange – and this project has been talked about for so long – the Portuguese Government was never consulted by the Spanish Government in the sense of trying to assess whether there will be impacts, or not, for the populations located downstream of the project”, he lamented.
According to Movimento Uivo, no transboundary environmental impact statement was requested, “a mandatory procedure under the Espoo Convention, given the proximity of this exploration to the border”, and asks the Portuguese Government and the municipality of Vinhais to take a stand for this study to be carried out.
“If it had been carried out, it would have been open to everyone, a public consultation would have to be carried out, the populations themselves would have to be consulted, the municipality itself would have to be consulted, as well as the Portuguese Environment Agency, the Institute for Conservation of Nature and Forests, which defend the values of the Montesinho Natural Park”, he said, adding that the company in question goes through court proceedingscarried out by Spanish environmental organizations.
Lusa tried to listen to the company, but this has not been possible so far.
On the official page of Eurobattery Minerals, information dated August 11 indicated that the subsidiary Tungsten San Juan Work had already begun on the tungsten open-pit mines. These first works aim to improve infrastructure, as well as the removal of waste and tungsten ore, and it is expected that the Production begins in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Also according to the company, the first proven ore reserves, confirmed by drilling at the San Juan project, are estimated at 60,000 tons.
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