JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Savannah Resources has been granted reservation permits over two new lithium projects, Somero and Eräjärvi, in Finland.
CEO David Archer said that these projects provided the company with access to the lithium market, which, in light of growing demand from the burgeoning battery market, was forecast to grow at a rapid rate.
“The demand for materials such as lithium, which is a key component in new energy storage solutions, is rising at record rates,” he stated.
Global lithium demand, which reached 184 000 t in 2015, was expected to increase to 534 000 t by 2025, which, in turn, was creating a favourable pricing market with the lithium price having trebled in under 12 months.
“We look forward to determining the resource potential of our new project areas to capitalise on this and, with this in mind, we are looking to frame up a development programme and an on-ground team to help define drill targets in 2016, leading potentially to the definition of mineral resources.”
Finland was set to become a major lithium supplier to mainland Europe, which consumed around 25% of the world’s lithium production but had no current domestic production.
European consumption of lithium carbonate was expected to rise significantly in the coming years with German automotive corporation Daimler recently announcing a new €500-million lithium-ion battery Gigafactory, with Volkswagen expected to follow suit later in the year.