South Africa’s Sibanye Stillwater said on Monday it is seeking concessions from the European Union to shield Europe’s first large-scale lithium mining and processing venture from price volatility and unfair competition.
Diversified miner Sibanye is advancing its Keliber lithium project in Finland in phases as it seeks to manage risk in a volatile pricing environment for the battery metal.
It began mining lithium ore at the Syväjärvi open-cast mine in February and plans to commission a concentrator during the third quarter of 2026, producing spodumene concentrate at a rate of about 140,000 metric tons annually.
A decision on commissioning a refinery to produce about 15,000 metric tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide per year will be taken in the third quarter and largely depends on ongoing talks with the EU, including on a floor price, Mika Seitovirta, Sibanye’s chief European adviser, told analysts.
The EU enacted the Critical Raw Materials Act in 2024, striving to reduce dependence on Chinese-dominated strategic metal supplies, amid a shift towards cleaner energy.
The EU regulations seek to boost critical metal production within the bloc through accelerated permitting, as well as access to public grants and private financing.
“Could we have some price protection mechanism for unfair competition, for instance? That is, of course, something that we need to have,” Seitovirta said during Sibanye’s international capital markets presentation.
“We need more when it comes to investment risks and also, when it comes to trade measures,” he added, citing U.S. tariffs and China’s metal export restrictions.
CEO Richard Stewart said Sibanye wanted assurances that its refinery operations would be protected from factors including oversupply from China.
“If there are games that get played in the market, help us protect what is a very strategic asset and not ask our shareholders to carry all of that risk,” he said.
(Reporting by Nelson Banya)
