FinnCobalt will use the grant from the European Regional Development Fund for diamond core drilling and related chemical assaying at Hautalampi, as well as consultancy work and personnel costs.
These will boost the project's progress towards developing ethical battery minerals within Europe, said Eurobattery Minerals, which has secured the option to acquire 100% of FinnCobalt in a staged acquisition.
"The positive grant decision is a clear sign that the governmental bodies in the EU are supporting the transition to sustainable mined battery minerals as the foundation of the electrification of the transport industry," said Roberto García Martínez, chief executive of Eurobattery Minerals.
"For the Hautalampi project, the grant will be an important injection for our aim to transform it from development to a fully-fledged battery mineral mine."
The mine has a NI 43-101 compliant mining reserve of 2.2 million tonnes with grades of Ni 0.38%, Co 0.10%, Cu 0.32%.
