Keliber replaces CEO as lithium project enters production phase

Keliber CEO Hannu Hautala is stepping aside as the Finnish mining company moves from construction to production, Yle reports. Sibanye-Stillwater technology director Jacques Van Rensburg will serve as interim CEO.

Mika Seitovirta, head of Sibanye-Stillwater’s European operations and chair of Keliber’s board, said the production start-up required a different leadership profile. He said Hautala had done excellent work.

“As in all major projects, the construction phase requires certain capabilities. Now that we are moving into production start-up, we are looking for a slightly different leadership profile from Hannu’s,” Seitovirta said.

Hautala has led Keliber since 2020, when he was appointed to oversee the launch of Europe’s first integrated lithium production operation. Integrated production means producing battery-grade lithium chemicals from the company’s own ore.

At the time of his appointment, the project had no financing and its profitability studies were incomplete. The project has now been established at a cost of nearly 800 million euros, and the company is assessing the right time to start the refinery.

Hautala said he was still negotiating the matter with Sibanye-Stillwater. He described the reasons for the change as complex and did not say who had initiated it.

Seitovirta said the change had been agreed jointly with Hautala. Sibanye-Stillwater will now begin searching for a permanent new CEO.

Keliber began mining operations during the winter, and the start-up of the concentrator next to the mine is under way. A final decision has not yet been made on when to start the chemical plant.

Seitovirta estimated that the chemical plant could begin its start-up towards the end of the year or at the beginning of next year. He said the concentrator’s start-up had progressed according to plan.

Once initial problems at the concentrator have been resolved, the company can move on to starting the chemical plant. Keliber aims to enter the market as Europe’s first producer of lithium refined from its own ore.