Keliber Oy, Kaustinen, Finland, is a near-term mining and chemicals company with an objective to become the first company to produce battery grade lithium hydroxide from spodumene in Europe. Lithium hydroxide will be produced to meet the growing needs of the international lithium battery market. Keliber holds rights to several lithium deposits in the Central Ostrobothnian lithium province, Finland. The company has a valid mining license in Syväjärvi, Kokkola and Länttä, Ullava. The area of Central Ostrobothnian lithium province has excellent potential for further increasing the mineral resources and discovering new deposits. Keliber is owned by Finnish investors and the Norwegian mining industry investment company Nordic Mining.
Keliber accomplished a three-phase lithium hydroxide piloting test program during 2019-2020. The piloting program included minerals processing, thermal processing and lithium hydroxide manufacturing. Keliber selected ANZAPLAN (Dorfner Analysenzentrum und Anlagenplanungsgesellschaft mbh), Hirschau, Germany, the leading consultancy and engineering company for industrial and specialty mineral and metal projects, as an independent third party to verify that Keliber’s lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LiOH.H2O) meets battery grade specifications by following the contemplated recrystallization procedure. In December 2020 ANZAPLAN confirmed that the sample from the test program could be recrystallized to yield battery grade purity.
“We are very pleased with the independent confirmation from ANZAPLAN. The verification of battery grade lithium hydroxide from our own ore with the chosen technology is an important milestone for Keliber”, says CEO Hannu Hautala.
