Keliber's lithium project reaches construction phase

Finnish Minerals Group’s portfolio company Keliber will launch preparatory work on its site for building a refinery in the Kokkola Industrial Park in December 2022. The refinery will produce lithium hydroxide, which is needed to make batteries for electric cars, for example.

Worth around EUR 590 million in total, the project is based on an integrated production process. In addition to the lithium hydroxide refinery and mining sites, a new concentrator plant will be built 66 km from the refinery, on the border of Kaustinen and Kronoby. Building the concentrator and the nearby Rapasaari mine will begin as soon as the environmental permits are granted. Should the lithium hydroxide refinery be completed before the concentrator, purchased spodumene concentrate may be used in the plant’s commissioning and ramp-up phase.

“As a long-standing key owner of Keliber, we are excited to see the project progress towards the construction and production phases. This will help ensure the supply of lithium, which is critical for the green transition and predicted by market research to become a bottleneck for the electrification of cars,” says Matti Hietanen, CEO at Finnish Minerals Group.

At most, the project’s construction phase will bring jobs to 500 people, of whom half will work on the lithium hydroxide refinery site. Once production is in full swing, Keliber will employ around 300 people directly and as subcontractors.
 

More information:

Matti Hietanen, CEO, Finnish Minerals Group
firstname.lastname(at)mineralsgroup.fi, +358 40 823 8806

Press releases from Sibanye-Stillwater and Keliber:

Sibanye-Stillwater approves implementation of the Keliber project and begins the construction of the Kokkola lithium hydroxide refinery

Construction of Keliber’s Lithium Project to Start – Investment of 588 M€
 

The mission of Finnish Minerals Group is to responsibly maximise the value of Finnish minerals. We manage the State’s mining industry shareholdings and strive to develop the Finnish value chain of lithium-ion batteries. Through our work, we contribute to Europe moving towards electric transport and a more sustainable future. www.mineralsgroup.fi