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CRITICAL RAW MATERIALLithium mining on Koralpe still stalled due to lack of moneyThe Australian operating company has expanded its investor search to the USA and is still optimistic that it will be able to start mining the light metal in 2025Günther Strobl12 August 2024, 21:00100 postsRead laterDietrich Wanke, Managing Director of European Lithium.The managing director of European Lithium, Dietrich Wanke, during a site inspection in the Koralm area, where large lithium deposits are suspected.Photo: Jakob PflüglIt stretches like a strudel dough.

The project involves mining a light metal that is said to be extremely abundant in the Koralpe region between Styria and Carinthia: lithium. It has been known for decades that this critical raw material is available there. But it is only through the hype surrounding electric cars and the rapidly increasing demand for lithium-ion batteries that projects of this kind, although risky, have become economically interesting.Up to 30 million tons of lithium ore are said to lie beneath the Koralpe. The Australian-American company European Lithium has been trying to get the project off the ground for more than ten years. It acquired the mining rights from the Carinthian mining industry in 2011. The price: ten million euros. Initially, there was talk of mining starting in 2016.

The start was later postponed to 2020 and then to 2022. Most recently, the company said that lithium extraction could begin in 2025 and further processing in 2026.Because the several hundred million euros needed to implement the project could not be found in Europe, European Lithium has expanded its search for investors to the USA. Based on a term of 15 years, around 500 million US dollars are needed, which is the equivalent of just under 460 million euros, Dietrich Wanke, Managing Director of European Lithium, recently told the Kleine Zeitung . In addition to the mine, this also includes a mechanical concentrator that separates the raw ore from surrounding rock.Concern about drinking water360 million dollars have been outsourced for the processing of lithium hydroxide into battery-grade lithium. This plant is financed by partners in Saudi Arabia with whom European Lithium has agreed a 50:50 joint venture, said Wanke.In the spring, European Lithium was transformed into Critical Metals Corporation through a merger.

The company's aim was to "drive forward the construction and commissioning of the lithium mine in Frantschach-St. Gertraud in the Wolfsberg district," according to a press release from the company at the time. Since the end of February, shares in this new company have been traded on the US technology exchange Nasdaq, with moderate success: the stock is currently trading at almost 40 percent below the issue price of $15.50 per share.Meanwhile, on the Styrian side, there are concerns about the drinking water for thousands of people. Blasting work could cause springs to dry up - in other words, the water could recede.It has not yet been decided whether an environmental impact assessment is necessary or whether the mining authority is responsible for the less complex mining law procedure. The assessment notice is expected in the fall. NGOs or the local community can then appeal within six weeks before it becomes legally binding. Only then will all protected assets and operating plans be considered for an actual permit.

Taking all these circumstances into account, experts consider a start in 2025 to be unrealistic. (Günther Strobl, August 12, 2024)