Finland’s Keliber has appointed Carnegie Investment Bank and Nordea Bank as advisers for the equity financing for the company’s mining and lithium chemical production project.
The advisers will explore different financing options, including a potential initial public offering through a listing of the company’s shares, Keliber said in a statement on Monday.
Some months ago, Keliber appointed Northcott Capital as the coordinator of the debt financing. Initial contacts have been established with relevant banks and sources of debt financing, and assessments of opportunities are ongoing.
Based on the June 2018 definitive feasibility study, the project would require an investment of €250-million, which would be funded through a combination of debt and equity.
“We have been working with Northcott on debt financing already for a couple of months and now we will commence active preparations to ensure also the equity financing of the project,” said Keliber CFO Jaakko Vilponen.
The project has total proven and probable reserves of 7.41-million tonnes grading 1.04% lithium oxide (Li2O) and total measured, indicated and inferred resources of ten-million tonnes grading 1.16% Li2O. Based on current ore reserves, the project has a life-of-mine of 13 years.
Keliber’s flowsheet selection for the project is a conventional spodumene concentrator, conversion of alpha to beta spodumene in a rotary kiln and a soda pressure leach process to produce lithium carbonate.
The 600 000 t/y concentrator plant will be located in Kalavesi Kaustinen and the chemical plant for lithium carbonate production will be in Kokkola Industrial Park and will produce 11 000 t/y.
The soda pressure leaching process for the lithium carbonate production enables production of battery grade (over 99.5%) lithium carbonate.