Finnish battery minerals miner Keliber has secured building and environmental permits respectively for its planned Päiväneva concentrator and the Kokkola lithium chemical plant.

Keliber 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.

A building permit decision was approved by the Environmental Protection Committee of Kaustinen and the Building Control of Kronoby in June 2022. In the same month, the Regional State Administrative Agency for Western and Inland Finland (AVI) granted the environmental permit for Keliber's lithium chemical plant. 

The building permit applies to the concentrator building and a related, combined laboratory and control room building.  

The building permit for the lithium chemical plant entered into legal force in June 2022. The company aims to begin construction this summer and production in 2024.

Continuing exploration drilling is planned in the Rapasaari mining area and Päiväneva concentrator area.

The environmental permit decision includes a right to start operations despite eventual appeals, which means that Keliber is able to start preparations for the operative phase immediately under the conditions of the permit. The construction of the lithium chemical plant is scheduled to start this summer and production in 2024. Keliber will produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide, which is needed in the lithium-ion batteries of electric vehicles, among other things.

"The environmental permit for the plant and the right to start operations is good news for us and our customers, as the permit makes it possible for the project to continue within the planned timeframe. When Keliber's product is launched, lithium hydroxide is expected to be in short supply, due to the ongoing green transition that will greatly increase the demand for lithium-ion batteries," says Hannu Hautala, CEO of Keliber.

The planned annual production of the lithium chemical plant is 15,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide monohydrate. Its main raw material is spodumene concentrate, which Keliber will produce from its own ore in the Päiväneva area of Kaustinen. Alternatively, Keliber may purchase spodumene concentrate from outside suppliers.

Keliber's lithium hydroxide production is based on soda leaching technology, which benefits from material and energy efficiency. Circulated process water accounts for about 80% of the plant's total process water consumption. The side stream created in the process, analcime sand, is usable in construction, primarily in the expansion of the Port of Kokkola.

The lithium chemical plant entity consists of several buildings with a total surface area of more than 18,000 square meters. The construction phase will directly employ about 250 people; after the start of continuous production, about 75 people will work in the plant area.