Sibanye’s Keliber lithium plant due within weeks

Sibanye-Stillwater (JSE: SSW; NYSE: SBSW) says it’s on track to complete construction and cold commissioning of its Keliber lithium project in Finland this quarter. 

The €783-million (C$1.23-billion) capital cost Keliber is due to produce 15,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LiOH) annually for 18 years. 

As the EU’s most advanced integrated mine-to-market lithium project and one of the few LiOH refineries outside China, the EU classified Keliber as strategic, aligned with the region’s Critical Raw Materials Act to promote mining and metals. 

Sibanye and its 20% partner in the project, the Finnish Minerals Group, have agreed that a staged start-up of Keliber is the optimal way forward, given current market conditions.

Staged startup

Lithium prices have rebounded from their 2024 lows, but analysts and producers say the market remains under pressure from oversupply, weak near-term demand growth and cautious capital spending.

“The staged ramp-up we have agreed on with our strategic partner ensures that the Keliber lithium project advances responsibly, de-risking the commissioning phase to ensure an optimal technical and commercial approach, balancing market realities with stakeholder interests,” Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Richard Stewart said in a release.  

The staged approach also maintains project financing flexibility by enabling capital expenditures and refining ramp-up costs to be deferred, based on lithium prices and other market factors. 

Shares in Sibanye-Stillwater ended 0.7% lower on Tuesday in Johannesburg at 70.80 rand apiece, valuing the company at 201.1 billion rand (C$17 billion).