The Portuguese Prime Minister defended on Tuesday that mining is “absolutely crucial, essential to our sustainment as a country, as an economy, and to deepen our integration on a European level, which transports us more than ever to the goals of reinforcing our autonomy, our decision-making capacity, our independence, and our sovereignty”

The Prime Minister was giving a speech at Almina mine in Aljustrel. With 125 kilometres of galleries, this 100% Portuguese mine produces copper, zinc, and lead, materials that are essential to the country as well as to reinforce European sovereignty and independence.

For the Head of Government, mining “is a way of strengthening the conviction that we are grounding our future, building a modern Portugal, a productive Portugal that is sovereign and offers opportunities for all”.

Luís Montenegro also upheld that Portugal has the conditions to generate more wealth and boost its international competitiveness, claiming that the country is at “the front line” of Europe with better economic and financial performance.

Thousands of tonnes of ores leave Aljustrel annually, contributing the reducing Europe’s dependence on other powers. The investment, the opening of which was attended by the Prime Minister, will enable doubling the production of metals required for decarbonisation.

“The energy and green transition require metal ores and, concretely, the focus of this operation: copper and zinc”, Luís Montenegro noted.

The “Feeding the Global Energy Transition” project involves the digital transformation of mining by using telematics in mining facilities, remote control of the operations and added safety, as well as a photovoltaic plant capable of generating a quarter of the energy requirements for Almina. Esta central de produção de energia solar permite uma redução de emissões e da pegada carbónica.

Luís Montenegro stressed that “mineral wealth is not incompatible with environmental sustainability”, indicating the innovation and responsibility applied in this Portuguese company. 

Among the main challenges identified, Luís Montenegro recalled the need to accelerate decision-making processes and cutting administrative barriers that restrict investment. The Prime Minister advocated a more agile Public Administration and greater articulation between bodies to guarantee swifter and more predictable decision.

The advantages of this mine, located within the Iberian Pyrite Belt, one of the richest areas in metal ores in the world are not just for the country or for Europe, as “today, more than ever, we are talking about economic activity that ends up absorbing almost all of the employability in the region, yet at the same time can dynamize all the other activities”, the Prime Minister also claimed.

“Our project for Portugal is one that at the same time creates value and responds to people’s concrete circumstances, the need for good, well paid jobs, compensated according to the work they carry out, and i tis a project that does not miss out on opportunities, which maximizes potential and values the economic integration of all the sectors of activity.”

Among the investments visited were the new Aljustrel road, funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which reroutes heavy-freight traffic from the centre of the village and improves mobility conditions, security and quality of life for the people. The infrastructure is an example of the execution of projects funded with a direct impact on the land and people’s daily life.