The board of Sibanye Stillwater has approved a substantial R10.6 billion capital expenditure to fund its Keliber lithium project in Finland.
Sibanye Stillwater announced the development on Monday as it seeks a foothold in the European battery metals sector.
The mining company’s CEO Neal Froneman said they are delighted to advance and grow their presence in Europe.
The diversified South African miner, Sibanye Stillwater, took full control of Finnish battery chemicals maker Keliber in October this year when it raised its shareholding to 85% after acquiring a 30.29% stake in February.
On behalf of Sibanye, Froneman said its board-approved capital expenditure programme would start with the construction of a lithium hydroxide refinery within Finland’s Kokkola industrial park.
“We are delighted to advance and grow our presence in the European battery metals industry through Keliber, which we expect will be the first fully integrated European lithium hydroxide producer supplying the European market and is expected to have one of the lowest carbon emission footprints in the industry,” said Neal Froneman.
IOL reported that Sibanye plans to underwrite a €104 million (R1.8bn) capital increase by Keliber by the end of January while at least €250m will be borrowed to fund the construction of the project.
Checking out a recent report on Sibanye, BusinessTech Africa published that the South African mining company is reportedly eyeing to buy a stake in Zambia’s Mopani Copper Mines.
According to reports, Mopani Copper Mines is looking for new investors after Glencore sold the asset and Sibanye Stillwater has expressed interest.
Mopani Copper Mine and smelter complex is now looking to get under new owners as Glencore sold the asset to the state in January last year, Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman said on Wednesday.
Based on Froneman’s sentiments, Sibanye had registered an interest around a year ago, and confirmed that they “remain interested”.
It is reported by Mining Weekly that Zambia’s state mining firm ZCCM-IH hired Rothschild in June to help find a new investor to upgrade and expand it.
