Keliber has sent environmental impact assessment reports of the Kalavesi production plant in Finland and the future mine sites of the Central Ostrobothnian lithium province to the authoritative process.
The company has submitted the EIA reports of the Kalavesi production plant and the mine sites of Central Ostrobothnian lithium province to the authorities of Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of South Ostrobothnia (“ELY Center”). The EIA report of the Kalavesi plant includes concentrator, chemical plant, tailings storage facilities and other necessary support functions. At the beginning of 2018, the Company decided that the lithium chemical plant will be located in the Kokkola Industrial Park (“KIP”). A separate EIA procedure for the KIP area is on-going. However, in the EIA report of the Kalavesi production plant, the estimates have been made on the assumption, that the chemical plant will also be located in the Kalavesi area as this area is still considered as a secondary alternative location for the chemical plant.
A separate EIA procedure has been implemented for the future mine sites in Central Ostrobothnian lithium province. The EIA report of the Central Ostrobothnia lithium province includes future open pit mining operations in Syväjärvi, Länttä, Rapasaari and Outovesi mine sites.
"We have made a comprehensive and thorough environmental assessment of the current state of the environment, as well as the potential impacts of our future operations. For the mine sites, we started the EIA process with studies and impact assessments already in 2013 and for the Kalavesi production area in the autumn 2016, "says Kari Wiikinkoski, Keliber Oy's Environmental Manager.
“We have valid environmental permits for the Kalavesi production plant and Länttä mine. As a result of the active exploration and diamond drilling programs conducted during the last years, the Company’s ore reserves have increased notably. Due to the increased reserves, the Company has increased the targeted amount of ore to be extracted annually and the amount of annual production of the end product, lithium carbonate. The new production targets exceeded the threshold value of the EIA process. We have worked actively with experts to evaluate the impact of our operations. We are pleased that we can present these results now, "says CEO Pertti Lamberg.
A public meeting on the environmental impact assessment reports will be held on Tuesday March 27, 2018 at 05:30 p.m. in Kaustinen Folk Art Center Kaustinen Hall, Jyväskyläntie 3, Kaustinen.
