Horizon Europe EXCEED

Horizon Europe EXCEED comprises several #lithium mining projects in Europe. One of them is Imerys' EMILI project in France. SLO-wise this project seems to be going progressing positively. A prime example of how stakeholder engagement should work!

So proud: Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios is streaming our documentary "Made in Europe: from mine to electric vehicle", offering the video with subtitles in English, Espanõl, Français, Italiano, Nederlands, Polski and Svenska! WIth the terrible news about the closing down of the Audi Brussels EV factory, the film is more relevant than ever! 🎬 This new version, which was released on YouTube about one month ago, was developed for Journeyman Pictures, a channel with a global reach. Compared with our previous version (also 100k views) the new version has been viewed by many non-EU people (154k and counting - YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eE9k9smN). 🎬 Prime Video "Made in Europe": https://lnkd.in/d8k5VSZ5 🌍 A tsunami of #electricvehicles from China could lead to a nightmarish de-industrialisation in Europe. Dr Peter Tom Jones, a well known climate author, is convinced that Europe has to take the full value chain back in its own hands, from mine to #electricvehicle. He undertakes a road trip in the Nordic countries to visit iconic mines and show best practices. He talks to the indigenous Sami people and to European leaders. 📽 Key data 👉 Team: Director: Stijn van Baarle (STORYRUNNER). Presenter: Peter Tom Jones (SIM2 KU Leuven / SOLVOMET R&I Centre). Camera man: Michael Van de Velde. Sound technicians: Casimir De Kimpe & Marius Acke. Graphic designer: Jasper Vander Elst 👉 Funding: Co-funding through Horizon Europe EXCEED, Horizon Europe ENICON and SIM2 KU Leuven/ SOLVOMET R&I Centre. With further support from PROMETIA, Horizon Europe LITHOS, Horizon Europe AVANTIS and CICERO Project. 👉 Featuring Jan Moström (LKAB, Euromines), Ulrika Huhtaniska (LKAB), Stefan Mikaelsson (Sami Parliament), Anders Sand (Boliden), Päivi Kinnunen (VTT), Esa Peuraniemi (Boliden Harjavalta Oy), Matthew Congleton & Pasi Rannus (Valmet Automotive), Maroš Šefčovič (European Commission) 👉 The 2023 version of the film won two awards (FUIFF & Brussels Capital Film Festival - "Best Green and Environment Film")) and received a further nomination (British Columbia Environmental Film Festival Society)! Moving on to the making of "Europe's #lithium paradox", taking us to #Jadar (Serbia), Mina do Barroso (Portugal), Pori (Finland), Brussels etc.: https://lnkd.in/eDGTawh4 Ann Mettler Dr. Stefan Wolf Koen Binnemans Vanessa Lorenz Bas Kurstjens Daan Marselis Susana XARÁ Madalina Ivanica Eurometaux (European Metals Association) EIT RawMaterials

To mine or not to mine (#energytransition) metals in Europe, that is the question... and the subject of debate during our EU Clustering Event in Mechelen, Belgium, on 9 September. The final programme can be found below. 👉 "Strategic Projects" Against the background of the 170 projects that applied to obtain the label "Strategic Project" within the #criticalrawmaterialsact we will be discussing if mining of #cleantech metals in EU/Europe can come to fruition as proposed by the CRMA (10% domestic extraction target)? Is there sufficient public acceptance for these "would-be" Strategic (#lithium, #nickel, #copper mining) Projects? Speakers: 👉 Antoine Oger (Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) 👉 william todts (Transport & Environment (T&E)) 👉 Anders Sand (Boliden Mineral AB) 👉 Thomas Gaultier (Savannah Resources PLC) 👉 Kostas Komnitsas (Technical University of Crete) 👉 Susana XARÁ (European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA)) 👉 Toni Eerola (Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) / Geologian tutkimuskeskus (GTK) 👉 Emily Iona Stewart (Global Witness) 👉 The panel discussion will reflect upon the following statements/hypotheses: ✔ S1. The Critical Raw Materials Act focuses too much on the CRM supply side and not enough on the CRM demand side. ✔ S2. Even in a post-growth, post-consumerist society, there will be a need for primary extraction of metals if we want to become a climate-neutral continent/world. ✔ S3. Responsible sourcing of concentrates from third countries is hypocritical if the EU Member States do not initiate their own domestic mining projects. ✔ S4. EU-based mining companies need to up their game to gain public acceptance for a community-centric, benefit-sharing #responsiblemining model. ✔ S5. As responsible sourcing is part of the EU’s CRM strategy, the EU should export its responsible mining standards for Strategic Projects carried out abroad. ✔ S6. Strategic Projects will be essential to implement the CRMA. However, some environmental law experts claim that EU legislators have put EU-based mining operators in a more difficult situation now. PROMETIA Euromines Eurometaux (European Metals Association) EIT RawMaterials BATTERY 2030+- industriAll Europe Better In Our Back Yard Teck Resources Limited "Sustainable Innovation Institute (SII) Technical University of Crete Horizon Europe LITHOS Horizon Europe ENICON Horizon Europe AVANTIS Horizon Europe EXCEED CICERO Project

Just 6 days to go before the inaugural International Circular Hydrometallurgy Symposium (https://lnkd.in/eZuMF6JJ) kicks off in Mechelen, Belgium. Some of the world's leading hydrometallurgists will provide their keynotes, 150+ participants from all over the world, 37 posters and a closing panel debate about the future of hydrometallurgical research in support of the transition to a #climateneutral economy. Here is the final call for registrations: 🌍 REGISTRATION FOR ICHS2024 is still possible here: https://lnkd.in/e6uKgzi9 CLOSING PANEL DISCUSSION ✅ Prof. Mari Lundström (Aalto University, Finland) ✅ Prof. Päivi Kinnunen (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland) ✅ Prof. George P Demopoulos (Mining & Materials Engineering, McGill University, Canada) ✅ Prof. Dr. Jacques Eksteen (Curtin University, Future Battery Industries CRC, Australia) ✅ Dr. Ryan Ravenelle (Lithium Americas Corp., USA) ☑ Moderator: Peter Tom Jones (SIM2 KU Leuven, Belgium) ✔ How to create more synergy between academic and industrial hydrometallurgical research? ✔ How to avoid that so many academics are working on trying to find solutions for problems that don’t really exist in the real (industrial) world? ✔ How can industry guide academics in a better way so that we avoid wasting money on researching “zombie technologies”? ✔ How can industry communicate to academics what the real challenges are that need to be solved (without IP/confidentiality issues)? ✔ How to overcome certain myths (e.g. the more new molecules we develop the better for industry…)? ✔ How to overcome the gap between “successful piloting work” and actual implementation in industry? KEY LINKS/DATA ICHS 2024 🙏 Organisers: SOLVOMET R&I Centre SIM2 KU Leuven CICERO Project Horizon Europe ENICON Horizon Europe LITHOS Horizon Europe EXCEED 👉 Full programme: https://lnkd.in/eZuMF6JJ 👉 Call for papers (Special Issue): https://lnkd.in/e6gysWdk 👉 Invited speakers: David Dreisinger Kathy Sole Ryan Ravenelle Kerstin Forsberg George P Demopoulos Mari Lundström David Robinson Tobias Urban Markus A. Reuter Mohammad Khoshkhoo Päivi Kinnunen Peter Ehren Jacques Eksteen Anne-Gwénaëlle Guezennec Koen Binnemans 👉 Speakers info: https://lnkd.in/erHYTA7J BATTERY 2030+ PROMETIA EIT RawMaterials Eurometaux (European Metals Association) Euromines #metallurgy #rareearths #lithium #cobalt #nickel #copper Rabab Nasser Ionuț-Alexandru Popa Elena Matvejeva Liuba Lukina Elisabeth De Decker

China’s Tianqi Lithium swung to its first half-year loss since 2020, hit by the #battery material’s massive price slump - where spot carbonate and spodumene prices are hovering around three-year lows. The #lithium industry has been grappling with a glut of supply alongside a slower-than-expected demand growth from #EV makers. The Chinese producer, which has a footprint spanning China, Australia and Chile, said it sees market fundamentals improving within the next few years. https://lnkd.in/g9uawUmr

Why the shift from NMC-based to LFP-based #electricvehicles is bad news for the European mine-to-EV value chain (although in the short term it will lead to cheaper EVs for motorists). That's my contribution to this excellent, two-page article by Bas Kurstjens in De Tijd, the Flemish equivalent of the Financial times. Full text: https://lnkd.in/eS-V2hVb ⛔ Impact on upstream players [and the effects of silo thinking] The article investigates how the #LFP battery technology, that was mastered in China, is now also conquering Europe, with OEMs such as Renault switching from #NMC to LFP #batteries. The effect of those choices have a massive impact on the upstream mine-to-battery players. In the article I repeat the comments I recently made in my Op-Ed for EIT RawMaterials: https://lnkd.in/dtiEPz_F: "If more OEMs suddenly decide to switch from NMC to LFP batteries —effectively allowing Chinese EV players to dictate technological choices—it will have devastating consequences for all upstream and midstream links. (...) Europe is highly vulnerable due to the fragmented and short-term focused nature of its mine-to-EV/cleantech supply chain. Above all, Europe needs more strategic alignment between upstream, midstream, and downstream players in the mine-to-EV/cleantech value chain, abandoning silo thinking in favour of a long-term strategy. Building a robust, sustainable supply chain for NMC-based electric vehicles requires coordinated efforts among European mines, #refining plants, pCAM/CAM factories, battery cell producers, assembly plants, and EV manufacturers. (...) Investors also need to get involved in this long-term strategy, sticking with certain choices as a sailor does when confronted with winds and waves, rather than showing this stop-start behaviour we are seeing now." ⛔ Recycling LFP And what about #batteryrecycling? Given the low intrinsic value of LFP-batteries, recycling hinges on gate-fees paid by tax payers. This is the opposite for NMC batteries, where the intrinsic material value of the battery is high enough to allow for a positive business case for recyclers such as Umicore to do their job without subsidies. NMC-batteries are #circulareconomy proof; LFP-ones arguably not! 🎬 Want to know more? Watch our documentary “Made In Europe” (2024): https://lnkd.in/eE9k9smN (Stijn van Baarle & Peter Tom Jones). We will continue the topic with our new documentary "Europe's #lithium paradox", taking us to Serbia, Portugal, Finland, Belgium. Eurometaux (European Metals Association) Euromines PROMETIA BATTERY 2030+ SIM2 KU Leuven The European Steel Association (EUROFER) Horizon Europe ENICON BEPA - Batteries European Partnership Association Julia Poliscanova (she/her) Chris Heron Vanessa Lorenz Koen Binnemans Ann Mettler Ron Stoop Veronique Steukers Kacper Chmielewski Anoop Kayarat Fabrice Stassin Susana XARÁ Peter Handley Julian Renpenning Dr. Stefan Wolf Full text: https://lnkd.in/eTuFYwKV

€500 million Green financing package for its Keliber lithium project https://lnkd.in/dYKB-7SY and Keliber lithium project secures loan financing of up to 500 million euros - Finnish Minerals Group https://lnkd.in/dNzFmRmr Warmest thanks to Riku Sauso [at picture giving an interview to Yle news today noon] and Tony Harris and many others here and among others to Damien Orban at Bank of America and Mikko Helkala at European Investment Bank (EIB) and Thibaud Huillet at Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking for all cooperation and support. Now it is the task for project teams lead by Heikki Pekkarinen as Project Head, Heikki Pihlaja at Kokkola lithium refinery, Ville Vähäkangas at concentrator and Sari Koivisto at mine to finalize the project and start battery grade lithium production from own ore as first in Europe.

Sibanye-Stillwater's Keliber lithium project has been granted a €500 million green financing facility, which completes the previous funding for the construction and development of the project.  It includes a €150 million tranche provided by the EIB that marks the first EIB financing support for mining critical raw materials in the EU and is an important step towards the EU’s strategic autonomy. Read the media release here: https://lnkd.in/d5V5ct3a Sibanye-Stillwaterin Keliber-litiumhankkeelle on myönnetty 500 miljoonan euron vihreä lainapaketti, joka täydentää aiempaa rahoitusta hankkeen rakentamiseksi ja kehittämiseksi. Järjestelyyn kuuluu Euroopan investointipankin myöntämä 150 miljoonan euron osuus. Se rahoittaa nyt ensimmäistä kertaa kriittisten raaka-aineiden louhintaa Euroopassa, mikä on tärkeä askel kohti EU:n raaka-aineomavaraisuutta.   Lue Sibanye-Stillwaterin englanninkielinen tiedote.

Our portfolio company Keliber Oy has secured a green loan for the construction and development of its lithium project in Central Ostrobothnia, Finland. To us, Keliber is a flagship project, which we have advanced since 2018 and later on in cooperation with our partner, Sibanye-Stillwater. Today, we see Keliber as an integral part of the Finnish battery value chain and as the first integrated lithium project in Europe. https://lnkd.in/daTkPecQ

Rio Tinto 's planned #Jadar lithium project keeps creating headlines. On 19 August this article by Lukáš Onderčanin, “Zapáčiť sa Únii a zachrániť elektromobily. Srbský plán narazil na protest”, published by SME Svet, one of the major news outlets in #Slovakia. https://lnkd.in/eYQPKc7T My eye fell on the article as I was cited in it based on a previous interview for Euronews (“Why is lithium crucial to the EU's green and digital transition?”, Marta Pacheco – https://lnkd.in/e97J8fbv). As my Slovak is not yet up to speed 😅 I had to revert to my AI Co-Pilot for a translation. Here’s a summary: “Some people have environmental concerns about the [Jadar] mining [project], while others fear that Serbia has sold out to Western companies. Additionally, pro-Russian disinformation channels are amplifying these concerns." In our upcoming #documentary “Europe’s lithium paradox” we will be covering the Jadar project. What are the root causes of the opposition to this project? What about the environmental concerns? Is it about geopolitics, with many Serbians believing they are the victims of “neocolonialism”? Is there a concerted #disinformation campaign going on? How do scientists look at this? From a documentary point of view, this is all fascinating stuff, although not very helpful in overcoming Europe’s lithium paradox. 🎬 Europe’s #lithium paradox In an increasingly hostile global landscape, Europe stands on shaky ground, heavily dependent on foreign nations for Li imports, a key element in meeting our climate goals. This reliance leaves Europe in a vulnerable position. Yet, in a twist of irony, Europe is home to abundant Li reserves spread across the continent. However, Europe currently struggles to convert these Li deposits into operational mines. The absence of Li mines is further compounded by a lack of Li refineries and #batteryrecycling facilities. The recently passed CRMA seeks to accelerate these processes by classifying key CRM initiatives as ‘#StrategicProjects. These projects must comply with the highest #ESG standards, prove technical and economic viability, and gain support from their respective national governments. Our documentary will explore how Europe could potentially mine, refine, and recycle Li in the future, supplemented by strategies for managing demand. We will highlight key European Li #mining projects (cf. Mina do Barroso, Portugal; Jadar, Serbia), trying to understand where the mining opposition comes from. 🍽 Funding: Horizon Europe LITHOS & KU Leuven / SIM2 KU Leuven 🎬 Watch our documentary “Made in Europe: from mine to electric vehicle” (2023 & 2024): https://lnkd.in/eE9k9smN (Journeyman Pictures). [Stijn van Baarle Peter Tom Jones] SME article: https://lnkd.in/eYQPKc7T