The European Investment Bank (EIB) is leading a €500 million (US$558.31 million) green financing package for Keliber Oy, a Finnish mining and battery material processing company. The facility includes a €150 million direct loan.

Underlining the importance of lithium for Europe, the European Commission is providing a guarantee for the direct financing part under the InvestEU programme. The loan marks the first EIB support for the mining of critical raw materials in the European Union.

The EU considers battery-grade lithium as a critical raw material due to its economic importance and the potential for supply shortages. Lithium is a key material in high-performance Li-ion rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles.

With the project, Keliber is set to become the first integrated commercial-scale, battery-grade lithium hydroxide producer in the EU. Construction of the plant has already begun, and production of lithium hydroxide is scheduled to begin in 2025.

“This loan is an important step towards the EU’s strategic autonomy,” says EIB vice-president Thomas Östros, who is responsible for EIB operations in Finland. “This is the first mining transaction in support of critical raw materials that we finance in the EU, underlining that this topic is among the EIB Group’s key priorities."

Keliber Oy is a subsidiary of the diversified mining and metals processing Group Sibanye-Stillwater, with Finnish Minerals Group (FMG) as a minority shareholder. The funding aims to assist the EU in meeting the increasing demand for lithium in the electrification of transport. The agreement supports the establishment of mining and processing facilities in the Kaustinen area in Finland, which is among Europe’s largest lithium reserves. 

Sibanye-Stillwater’s Keliber lithium project aims to produce battery-grade lithium from its own mineral resources and set up a lithium ore concentrator facility as well as a lithium hydroxide refinery.

The Keliber lithium project is the most advanced lithium project in Europe dedicated to supplying the electric vehicle (EV) battery sector. Close proximity of mining and refining facilities meaning that Keliber will be amongst the world’s most CO2 efficient producers of lithium hydroxide.

The Keliber lithium mining and battery chemical project is expected to produce up to 15,000 tonnes per annum battery-grade lithium hydroxide with production from third-party ore expected to start in 2025 and from own ore in 2026.

Sibanye-Stillwater is one of the world’s largest primary producers of platinum, palladium, and rhodium and is a top-tier gold producer. It also produces and refines iridium and ruthenium, nickel, chrome, copper and cobalt.

The group has recently begun to diversify its asset portfolio into battery metals mining and processing, while increasing its presence in the circular economy by growing its recycling and tailings reprocessing exposure globally.