Diversified metals miner Sibanye-Stillwater’s lithium mining subsidiary Keliber has partnered with technologies, services and solutions company Metso Outotec to provide its sustainable soda pressure leaching technology for Keliber’s lithium hydroxide refinery, which will be built in Kokkola, Finland.

In a combined €120-million order, Metso Outotec will also provide key processes for Keliber’s concentrator plant in Kaustinen, Finland.

Of the €120-million order, €80-million will be booked in Metso Outotec Minerals’ 2022 fourth-quarter orders. 

Metso Outotec’s scope of delivery consists of the engineering and supply of most of the equipment for the lithium hydroxide refinery, as well as installation and commissioning services and training.

For the concentrator plant, Metso Outotec’s scope of delivery includes engineering and supply of all the main equipment.

Keliber CEO Hannu Hautala says Metso Outotec’s Planet Positive portfolio, which focuses on the most environmentally efficient technologies, supports the potential for the Keliber project to be a world-class lithium hydroxide producer that is among the most sustainable in the world.

“The lithium hydroxide production process has been successfully tested with Keliber’s concentrate in Metso Outotec’s pilot plant during the last few years. Metso Outotec has also provided the basic engineering for the refinery, which has given us with a well-based, detailed technical and economic performance review of the plant.

“During the planning and piloting stages, new initiatives were also developed to improve the environmental and production performance of both plants,” says chief project officer Heikki Pekkarinen.

Metso Outotec minerals president Markku Teräsvasara says the company’s proprietary soda pressure leaching technology will enable exceptional material and energy efficiency for the lithium hydroxide refinery, contributing to the sustainability and profitability of the whole project.

Metso Outotec has developed lithium hard rock-related technologies for 20 years, and collaboration with Keliber started already in the early 2000s.

Metso Outotec’s expertise covers the extraction of lithium from brines and spodumene ores up to battery-grade lithium salts. These processes are patented and meet the needs to produce high-end lithium-ion battery chemicals for the growing market.