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Miner Sibanye gets 500 mln euros funding to finish Finland lithium task

Sibanye Stillwater has protected a 500 million euros ($ 557.30 million) funding package to complete its Keliber lithium task in Finland, the miner stated on Thursday.

The South African company owns 79.8% of Keliber after it bought the job in 2021 to diversify away from platinum and gold production into battery metals amidst a global shift towards cleaner energy.

State-owned Finnish Minerals Group and other Finnish financiers own the staying stake in the Keliber task.

Sibanye got 250 million euros from export credit warranty firms including Finland's state-owned Finnvera, 150 million euros from the European Investment Bank and a syndicated tranche of 100 million euros from business banks.

The financing meets Keliber's final capital investment requirements of about 667 million euros to complete the project, Sibanye said. About 250 million euros was formerly raised through equity.

The funding solution that has now been secured allows the building and construction stage to be finished and the production of battery-grade lithium hydroxide to start, Matti Hietanen, CEO of Finnish Minerals Group, stated.

When completed, Keliber is expected to have annual production of about 15,000 metric lots of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate for a minimum of 16 years, according to Sibanye's site.

Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman stated the financing supplied by European lending institutions showed the task's strategic significance to the European clean energy transition.

The funding also substantially improves the group's. liquidity, effectively ring-fencing the existing group. centers for operational requirements, Froneman included.

On Wednesday, Sibanye said it had actually agreed a $101 million gold. prepayment offer to raise money to help pay back loans after a depression. in platinum group metal prices injured its earnings.

It has likewise agreed to re-finance its 5.5 billion rand.

(source: Reuters)