(Kitco News) – Finnish lithium developer Keliber Oy today announced that municipalities of Kaustinen and Kronoby have granted a building permit for Keliber’s Päiväneva lithium concentrator plant.
According to the company’s statement, the decision was made by the Environmental Protection Committee of Kaustinen and the Building Control of Kronoby in June 2022.
The company said that the permit applies to the concentrator building and a related, combined laboratory and control room building, adding that a second permit was granted for an office building, including a repair shop and storage space.
Keliber noted it will build the concentrator plant on the border of the Kaustinen and Kronoby municipalities, next to the Päiväneva peat bog. The concentrator will produce spodumene concentrate from lithium ore mined in the area.
The concentrate will be processed further at the Kokkola lithium chemical plant, where it will be converted into battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate, for use in electric vehicles batteries, among other things. The company aims to begin construction this summer with production expected in 2024.
Keliber is a European, Finnish special chemical and mining company with the aim of producing sustainable, high-purity, battery-grade lithium hydroxide for the growing lithium battery industry in 2024 by utilizing own ore.
The planned operations include lithium mines and the concentrator plant in Kaustinen, Kokkola and Kruunupyy, Finland, and a lithium hydroxide plant in Kokkola.
Earlier in September 2021, Keliber reported that estimated proved and probable ore reserves at its Keliber project’s largest Rapasaari deposit now total 8.21 million tonnes, up 55% from the previous estimate, at an average lithium oxide (Li2O) grade of 0.89.
Sibanye-Stillwater owns approximately 30% of Keliber.