The European Union has launched over a dozen lithium and cobalt mining projects, the most advanced of which is Finland’s Syväjärvi lithium mine (production started in February 2026), while the Czech Cinovec deposit (start around 2030) and Portugal’s Barroso (after 2027) are at various stages of preparation.
The energy transition of the European Union requires enormous amounts of lithium and cobalt, essential for producing lithium ion batteries for electric cars and energy storage systems. EU demand for lithium is expected to increase many times over by 2030 compared with levels at the start of the decade, and demand for cobalt roughly threefold. Europe is dramatically dependent on imports of these raw materials, as China controls about 60 to 90 percent of global processing of lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earth metals. For cobalt, global supply is concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo (over 70 percent of mining) and refined mainly in China.
To address this dependence, the European Union adopted the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) in 2024, setting ambitious targets for 2030. At least 10 percent of annual EU critical raw material consumption was to come from domestic extraction, at least 40 percent from domestic processing, at least 15 percent from domestic recycling, and no more than 65 percent of EU consumption of each strategic raw material at any stage of processing could come from a single third country.
In January 2026, just two years after the act was adopted, the European Commission admitted that these targets will not be met. The European Union will not achieve its goals for critical raw materials, including cobalt, magnesium, lithium and nickel, meaning that import pressure and geopolitical risk will persist. In response to this diagnosis, the European Investment Bank adopted a new critical raw materials initiative, including an expected 2 billion euros in financing and a dedicated one stop shop for raw material projects.
At the same time, the European Commission selected 13 strategic mining projects outside the EU, in Canada, New Caledonia, Zambia and Madagascar, to supplement European supplies. Among them are four projects related to nickel and cobalt. This dual strategy, supporting mining inside the EU and investing in projects outside the EU, shows that Brussels is aware of the limitations of European deposits.
Finland’s most advanced project as Europe’s first mine
In February 2026, the first integrated lithium mine in Europe was opened in the Kaustinen region of western Finland. The Syväjärvi mine, together with beneficiation and refining plants, currently represents the only such integrated investment in Europe, covering the full production chain from ore extraction to refining of battery grade lithium hydroxide. The project is being implemented by the Finnish company Keliber Oy, in which the South African company Sibanye Stillwater holds 80 percent and the Finnish state holding company Finnish Minerals Group holds the remaining 20 percent.
The Syväjärvi mine is located in the municipality of Kaustinen, the concentrator in Päiväneva, and the ore is processed at Keliber’s plants in Kokkola. All locations are within about 43 kilometres, minimising logistics costs. The first spodumene veins, the lithium bearing mineral, have already been extracted from initial drill holes. The ore is crushed and then transported to the Päiväneva concentrator, from where the concentrate goes to the Kokkola refinery where it is converted into lithium hydroxide. The first batches of finished product are expected to be ready by the end of 2026, resembling white sugar crystals and delivered in 500 or 1,000 kilogram bags.
The mine’s annual production is to reach 15,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide, equivalent to about 2,500 tonnes of pure lithium. Bo Langbacka, a specialist from the Geological Survey of Finland, noted that 15,000 tonnes represents only about 10 percent of Europe’s lithium demand. This means that lithium imports from other parts of the world, from Australia, South America and China, will continue to play a key role for many years. The mine will create around 350 jobs, and the total cost of building the mine, concentrator and chemical plants is about 800 million euros.
The Finnish government, through Finnish Minerals Group, invested 40 million euros in the Keliber project, and the project itself was designated as strategic under the EU CRMA. Finnish Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering Joakim Strand stated that Keliber is the first lithium project under construction in Europe, making it important both at Finnish and European level. In addition to mining at Syväjärvi, the mine plans to open six other mining areas in the Kaustinen, Kokkola and Kronoby regions. The resources of the main mining areas Syväjärvi and Rapasaari alone are estimated to be sufficient for 18 years of operation, and the company is still actively exploring for new deposits.
Europe’s largest spodumene deposit under social and environmental pressure
The planned Barroso lithium mine in northern Portugal, in the Trás os Montes region, is considered the largest known spodumene resource in Europe, the key lithium mineral used in batteries. The project is being developed by Savannah Resources, which received 110 million euros in funding for its implementation. The deposit is located in a mountainous region of high natural value, recognised by the United Nations as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System, which has from the outset raised opposition from environmental organisations and local communities.
In March 2025, the European Commission included Barroso on a list of 47 strategic projects across the EU, which was meant to speed up permit procedures and facilitate access to financing. In June 2025, community activists and environmental organisations demanded that the project be removed from the list, arguing that the Commission had not re examined the project despite new evidence of possible risks to the environment, local communities and security. The Commission rejected the application in November 2025, arguing that the verification of compliance with EU law had been carried out correctly.
In February 2026, the dispute reached the Court of Justice of the European Union. Environmental and community organisations, including Associação Unidos em Defesa de Covas do Barroso (UDCB) and ClientEarth, filed a complaint against the Commission’s decision to grant the project strategic status. The organisations have long argued that granting the project strategic status ignores documented risks to water resources, biodiversity and residents’ livelihoods. This case is a key test for the entire EU raw materials policy, as it shows the tension between energy transition goals and environmental protection and local community rights.
The cross border Cinovec deposit
On the border between the Czech Republic and Germany, in the Ore Mountains, lies the Cinovec lithium deposit (on the Czech side) and Zinnwald (on the German side), which is assessed as the largest lithium deposit in Europe. The project is being developed by European Metals Holdings, a company listed on the stock exchanges of Australia and the United Kingdom. In August 2025, the company obtained a preliminary mining permit for the Cinovec South area, valid until 2033, covering an area of 1.4807 km² and giving the company priority to apply for the final mining permit.
In December 2025, European Metals completed its Definitive Feasibility Study, which confirms Cinovec as a long term producer of 37,500 tonnes of battery grade lithium carbonate per year. For comparison, this production corresponds to about 5.2 percent of the EU’s projected lithium demand in 2030 and is sufficient for about 1.3 million electric car batteries per year. The project’s economics are solid. The net present value (NPV) before tax is 1.455 billion dollars, and the internal rate of return (IRR) is 14.8 percent over the first 23 years of the mine’s 27 year operating life. The Czech Republic approved project funding of 360 million euros. The project was recognised both as an EU strategic project under the CRMA and as a strategic deposit by the Czech government.
In January 2026, European Metals submitted a full environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the project, which is a condition for receiving Czech funding and opens the way for the final mining permit. If all procedures go according to plan, the mine could start operations around 2030 and operate for 27 years. The Czech deposit contains about 1.5 percent of world lithium reserves and should allow the extraction of 3.2 million tonnes of ore per year. Unlike Australia, which uses open pit mining, the Czechs plan more expensive but more landscape friendly underground mining.
Earlier optimistic forecasts from 2017 assumed annual mine revenues of 1 billion korunas (173.5 million zlotys) and total revenues of 2 trillion korunas (347 billion zlotys) over the entire operating period. Now it is estimated that annual revenues will be 3.2 billion korunas (555 million zlotys), and the total amount the mine will contribute to the budget is 86 billion korunas (14.9 billion zlotys). Mining at Cinovec will therefore be profitable, but far from the initially declared politically charged estimates. On the German side, in Zinnwald (in the municipality of Altenberg), preparations for mining are under way, with start planned after 2030. This deposit is a continuation of the same vein as Cinovec, but on the German side of the border.
Giant deposits in deep brines at a depth of 4 km
In September 2025, Neptune Energy reported that Germany has one of the world’s largest lithium resource bases. Deposits occur in the mountains of the North German Basin at depths of 3 to 5 kilometres. About 43 million tonnes of lithium carbonate are dissolved in hot, saline formation waters found in Permian sandstones of the so called Rotliegend, dating back about 300 million years. For comparison, the leading lithium supplier, Australia, extracted 88,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate in 2024, and identified global resources are 150 million tonnes. The German discovery is therefore gigantic on a global scale.
The RoLiXX project, planned for 36 months, is responsible for assessing the deposit’s potential. Its task is to use existing deep wells for scientific analysis of the resource. Extracting lithium from brines, however, involves serious technical problems. These waters contain a complex mixture of dissolved elements, and under changes of pressure and temperature, minerals precipitate out of solution. The resulting sediments clog equipment and reduce the efficiency of pumping and processing systems. For this reason, the team is seeking an extraction method adapted to high salinity conditions. It is necessary to recover lithium while minimising solid residues, which pose an environmental threat. Scientists are currently conducting detailed geological and geochemical analyses to better understand the process of element storage. Experiments are under way at the MAGMA Laboratory using advanced equipment to determine how lithium passes from rock into solution. The project includes a detailed life cycle assessment, an economic feasibility study and an environmental impact analysis. If the project succeeds, Germany could not only meet its own lithium demand but also become an exporter of lithium in Europe. Due to the extreme extraction conditions, commercial production will have to wait until at least 2030 to 2035.
Projects in the Nordic countries
Unlike lithium, European cobalt production is marginal today. According to 2022 data, cobalt mining in Europe accounted for just 1 percent of global production, even though Europe has numerous cobalt bearing deposits. As a 2025 study by the British Geological Survey found, despite abundant cobalt resources in Europe, only Finland and Turkey currently mine this metal.
Finland plays a key role in the European cobalt ecosystem, but not so much through mining as through refining. Kokkola is home to Europe’s largest and most advanced cobalt chemical refining platform, operated by Umicore. The refinery has a production capacity of about 15,000 tonnes of cobalt chemicals per year and supplies certified, EU compliant cobalt sulphates and precursor materials. However, the raw material for this refinery comes mainly from imports, not from European mines.
The most advanced cobalt mining projects in Europe are primarily polymetallic projects, where cobalt is a by product of copper, nickel or other metal mining. In Finland, the Hautalampi project, developed by Eurobattery Minerals, has been independently recognised as the fifth largest undeveloped cobalt project in the Nordic countries. The project is located in an old mining area with good access to energy and water and is in the preparation phase for an investment decision.
In Sweden, the Nautanen project in Norrbotten, developed by Boliden (the third largest producer of zinc and copper in Europe), has been submitted to the European Commission for strategic project status under the CRMA. The deposit is located 15 kilometres north west of the Aitik copper mine and is a potential satellite mine that could use the existing Aitik infrastructure, including the concentrator and tailings storage facility. Expected annual production of raw materials from Nautanen is 2 to 3 million tonnes per year, and the expected mine life is 20 years. The European Commission’s decision on strategic status is expected in the second quarter of 2026. Production could start in the early 2030s, depending on permits.
In Turkey, the Çaldağ project, developed by an Australian company, is rated highest for cobalt recovery but performs very poorly on environmental grounds. It ranks low on all but one environmental indicator, due to high energy consumption and poor environmental management in Turkey. These projects, even if implemented, will be able to supply only a fraction of European cobalt demand, which according to IndexBox forecasts will grow from about 269,000 tonnes to 1.6 billion dollars in market value by 2035.
Projects outside the EU and the role of recycling
The European Commission, aware of the limitations of its own deposits, selected 13 strategic mining projects outside the EU, in Canada, New Caledonia, Zambia and Madagascar, to supplement European critical raw material supplies. Most of these projects (as many as 7) will be developed in countries with which the EU has established strategic raw material partnerships, including Canada, Ukraine (before the war), Namibia, Argentina, Chile and Zambia.
An example of European company activity outside the EU is a memorandum of cooperation between Coal Energy, a company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, and Albanian companies concerning the development of mining projects on deposits with a concession for copper, gold and cobalt extraction in Albania. During previous exploration work, the presence of antimony, selenium and tellurium was also detected. The Kurbnesh anthropogenic deposit is one of the largest anthropogenic copper gold cobalt deposits in the region, and its rock mass resources are estimated at 1.4 million tonnes.
Recycling of electronic waste and used batteries is becoming the third, increasingly important pillar of the European raw material strategy. The European Cobalt and Nickel Ecosystem 2026 is no longer based on mining but on chemical refining, financing and regulation. Europe has a structural advantage in recovering cobalt and nickel from used batteries thanks to strict waste regulations. Recycling is ceasing to be marginal and is becoming a strategic safeguard against supply concentration and geopolitical risk.
