“Submitting the application for the environmental permit is a critical milestone for Eurobattery Minerals and we have now taken a major step towards mining operations in Finland,” said Roberto García Martínez, CEO of Eurobattery Minerals.

Roberto García Martínez continued:
“As a result of previous analyses, we know that there is a great economic outlook for the cobalt, nickel, and copper mine. In addition to the financial aspects, the Finnish mine is also a great opportunity to increase Europe’s self-sufficiency when it comes to responsible mined battery minerals.”

The application covers all aspects needed to start and operate the mine
The environmental permit application includes all essential aspects of an operational mine at the Hautalampi project, for example, underground mining operations for ore and waste rock, crushing operations for ore and waste rock usage for construction. Furthermore, it also covers an application for producing metal concentrates, discharge treatment, handling mining waste, implementing mine backfilling, and depositing extractive waste in extractive waste areas. In addition, the environmental permit application also covers aspects regulated by the Finnish Environmental Protection Act (Ympäristönsuojelulaki 527/2014).

“We look forward to working closely with the authorities in Finland to ensure a smooth and quick environmental permit process and expect a positive outcome. In parallel with this process, we are continuing the discussions and development of off-take agreements that are related to the work with the bankable feasibility study,” said Roberto García Martínez.

As the company waits for the outcome of the environmental permit application, Eurobattery Minerals will continue with the work according to the company´s plans. These include the finalisation of the 100 per cent acquisition of FinnCobalt Oy and continuing with the detailed engineering of the next phases. The Company will also continue the discussions and development of off-take and equipment agreements which is part of the preparatory work for the bankable feasibility study.

About the Hautalampi Battery Mineral Project

The Hautalampi project is located 345 km from Helsinki, in the well-known Outokumpu Mining Camp Area. The Hautalampi project is located in the same region as the well-renowned Keretti mine where approximately 28.5 million tonnes of copper ore were mined between 1912–1989. The project consists of one mining concession covering 277 hectares with exposure towards cobalt, nickel, and copper.

The Outokumpu municipality has evolved from a mining town into an industrial centre. Therefore, this is an excellent location for mining operations, with strong local support for mining.

The Hautalampi project is ideally positioned for the burgeoning EV battery manufacturing market in northern Europe, and there are strong technical fundaments for the processing and production of commercial Co-Ni concentrate and Cu concentrate.

The target operational figures, as they appear in the pre-feasibility study from March 2023, indicate that Eurobattery Minerals will produce around 500,000 tonnes of ore per annum, with an expected mine life of +12 years. The total capital expenditure is estimated at EUR 65 million, and the payback period is 4.6 years. The mining project is expected to have a concentrate production of Cu-conc. 25% of 5,000 tonnes per annum and Ni/Co-conc. Ni 7%/Co 1.9% of 21,000 tonnes per annum.

 The research has been carried out as an essential part and as a standard procedure of the environmental permit process to determine possible risks associated with groundwater moving in shear zones in and out of the mine and the deposit. With the analysis ready, it can be concluded that the shear zones follow the geology of the bedrock, and no larger dominant shear zones were found, i.e., the bedrock conditions in Hautalampi are favorable for mining operations. 

“As the Hautalampi project is located on an old mining ground, we knew already that the geology was suitable for further mining. Yet, the results from the geophysical tests further cement that our Hautalampi battery minerals mine project has all the preconditions to be an important source of responsibly mined battery minerals. With the test results in hand, we will proceed with the environmental permit application as planned,” said Roberto García Martínez, CEO of Eurobattery Minerals.

The investor presentation covered, among other things, a status update regarding the progress of the battery mineral mine projects in Finnish Hautalampi and in Spanish Corcel. A selection of the information is summarised below.

In 2023, the Company has increased its stake in FinnCobalt Oy and the Hautalampi project to 70 per cent, and achieved several important milestones in the project, including the publication of a Preliminary Feasibility Study, the achievement of the highest UNFC classification as a viable mining project, the registration of the Hautalampi mining permit, and the submission and approval of an updated Environmental Impact Assessment. In 2024, the Company intends to accelerate the work in Hautalampi by finalising the acquisition of the project, applying for an environmental permit, as well as signing a non-binding offtake agreement and delivering a feasibility study.

In the Spanish Corcel project, the Company continues to await a positive decision from the Energy and Mining Authority of Galicia. Eurobattery has, as previously communicated through a press release on 30 August 2022, submitted all necessary information for environmental and operating permits and will resume the development of Corcel when possible. Since the European Parliament on 12 December 2023 voted in favour of a bill under the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), which among other things entails that the permit process for a mine should be significantly speeded up and that at least 10 per cent of the EU’s annual consumption of strategic raw materials should be mined within the EU by 2030, the Company hopes that the permit process in Corcel will be made easier in the near future.

“I am very pleased to see that our battery mineral project in Finland is progressing. Along with finalising the environmental permit process in Q1 2024, the development of the concentration plant is vital in our work to supply responsible battery minerals from our Finnish mine and thus make Europe less dependent on conflict minerals”, said Roberto García Martínez, CEO of Eurobattery Minerals.

The concentrator for refinement will consist of a comminution circuit (crushing and grinding), copper flotation concentrate production, nickel-cobalt flotation concentrate production, sulphur removal and tailings handling. Hautalampi concentration plant is designed to produce annually 21,000 tonnes of Ni 7%/Co 1.9% concentrate and 5,000 tonnes of Cu 25% concentrate during the anticipated 12 years of mining at the site. The designed capacity of the plant is 500,000 tonnes per annum.

To get a visual update of the Hautalampi battery mineral project and the concentration plant, please take a look at the following video:

LINK TO HAUTALAMPI VIDEO

Invitation to the Company’s investor meeting
The CEO of Eurobattery, Roberto García Martínez, will be presenting the Company at an investor meeting on Monday 15 January 2024 between 5:00–6:00 PM CET. Shareholders and other stakeholders have the opportunity to follow the presentation in real-time and ask questions to the Company during the subsequent Q&A session or, alternatively, watch the event afterwards on Financial Hearings’ webcast.

Registrations for the investor meeting are made on the following link: https://ir.financialhearings.com/eurobattery-minerals-2024. The webcast offers availability to ask written questions.

If you wish to ask oral questions through teleconference, please register on the following link: https://conference.financialhearings.com/teleconference/?id=5001875. After the registration, you will be provided with phone numbers and a conference ID to access the conference with the option to ask questions.

Please note that the investor meeting will be held in English.

The terms in brief

• Subscription price: SEK 0.80 per unit (SEK 0.40 per share, the warrants are obtained free of charge).
• Gross volume: Approximately SEK 29.3 million in the event of a full subscription in the Rights issue, and an additional approximately SEK 29.3–36.6 million in the event of full exercise of the corresponding warrants.
• Terms: One (1) share held on the record date gives one (1) unit right. One (1) unit right entitles to subscription for one (1) unit. One (1) unit consists of two (2) shares, one (1) warrant of series TO4 and one (1) warrant of series TO5.
• Trading in unit rights at NGM Nordic SME: 8 January – 17 January 2024.
• Subscription period: 8 January – 22 January 2024.
• Estimated date for announcement of the outcome of the Rights issue: 24 January 2024.
• Securement: 75.0 per cent (approximately SEK 22.0 million) through subscription commitments and underwriting commitments. Neither the subscription commitments nor the underwriting commitments are secured by bank guarantees, escrow funds, pledge or similar arrangements.

The terms and conditions of the Rights issue are included in the Company’s EU growth prospectus, which was published on 3 January 2024. The prospectus and subscription form are available on the Company’s issue site, https://investors.eurobatteryminerals.com/en/rights-issue-2024/, during the subscription period.

Advisers
Augment Partners AB is acting as the financial advisor and Advokatfirman Schjødt is acting as the legal advisor to the Company in connection with the transaction.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Publication, release, or distribution of this press release may in certain jurisdictions be subject to legal restrictions and persons in the jurisdictions where this press release has been made public or distributed should be informed of and follow such legal restrictions. The recipient of this press release is responsible for using this press release and the information herein in accordance with applicable rules in each jurisdiction. This press release does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or subscribe for any securities in Eurobattery in any jurisdiction, either from Eurobattery or from anyone else.

This press release is not a prospectus according to the definition in Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (the “Prospectus Regulation“) and has not been approved by any regulatory authority in any jurisdiction. A prospectus regarding the Rights issue which is described in this press release has been registered by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Sw. Finansinspektionen) and is available, among other things, on Eurobattery’s website.

This press release does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or subscribe for securities in the United States. The securities mentioned herein may not be sold in the United States without registration, or without an exemption from registration, under the U.S. Securities Act from 1933 (“Securities Act“), and may not be offered or sold within the United States without being registered, covered by an exemption from, or part of a transaction that is not subject to the registration requirements according to the Securities Act. There is no intention to register any securities mentioned herein in the United States or to issue a public offering of such securities in the United States. The information in this press release may not be released, published, copied, reproduced or distributed, directly or indirectly, wholly or in part, in or to Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, Singapore, South Africa, the United States or any other jurisdiction where the release, publication or distribution of this information would violate current rules or where such an action is subject to legal restrictions or would require additional registration or other measures beyond those that follow from Swedish law. Actions in contravention of this instruction may constitute a violation of applicable securities legislation.

Eckhard Cordes, born in 1950, is a highly regarded business leader in Europe with extensive experience in the automotive industry. He holds a doctoral degree in business from the University of Hamburg. His previous positions include various executive roles such as CEO of the Mercedes Car Group and Member of the executive board of Daimler, and Board member of SKF, Rheinmetall, and Volvo AB. Currently, he serves as Partner at Cevian Capital and EMERAM Capital Partners, as well as the Chairman of the Board at Bilfinger SE.

At present, Eckhard Cordes holds 460,000 shares in the Company. According to the Board of Directors’ assessment, Eckhard Cordes is considered independent in relation to the Company, its management, and the Company’s major shareholders.

 “Collaboration between academia and business is vital in our work to create a more sustainable future. As a provider of battery minerals powering the electric revolution, Eurobattery Minerals is committed to supporting this development and being part of this important research project on strategic metals and minerals”, said Roberto García Martínez, CEO of Eurobattery Minerals.

The research centre ”Smart Exploration Research” is run by Alireza Malehmir, Professor in Geophysics at Uppsala University and includes experts in geological science, nanotechnology, data analysis, drill technology, drones and robot solutions. The project consists of participation from researchers at Lund’s University, Stockholm’s University and Gothenburg’s University, as well as representatives from Epiroc, Nordic Iron Ore, First Quantum Minerals, Tyréns, Samarkand2015, BitSimNow, Eurobattery Minerals and Amkvo.

For additional information see announcement from the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research – https://strategiska.se/en/uppsala-university-lead-the-center-for-strategic-metals/.

“I am very pleased with how work progresses in our Finnish battery mineral mine project. Yesterday we got the official listing in the Finnish mining right register, and today, the authorities announced the start of the zoning and site plan change. It is encouraging to see how our team in Finland work in close co-operation with the local authorities to move the project forward,” said Roberto García Martínez, CEO of Eurobattery Minerals.

The land zoning is according to the Land-use and Building Act in Finland and intends to support the site construction of the area in the near future. This includes building permits and supervision by authorities.

Outokumpu town structural services tendered the preparation of the zoning for the area of the Hautalampi mine. Sweco Finland Oy was selected by Outokumpu town as a zoning developer of the site plan for the Hautalampi mine area.

“We are very pleased with the progress made for the zoning by Outokumpu town, and we are looking forward to future co-operations with stakeholders, including landowners and city councils,” says Ilari Kinnunen, Managing Director of FinnCobalt Oy.

“I am very pleased that the Hautalampi mining right has now been registered in Finland’s official mining register. This is an important step in our preparations for starting the mine”, said Roberto García Martínez, CEO of Eurobattery Minerals AB.

The new report further confirms the viability of the new method for large-scale extraction of rare earth elements in Eurobattery Minerals Fetsjön project in Sweden. The method allows recovery of rare earth elements through chemical treatment at low temperatures, thus avoiding costly and time-consuming mechanical treatment. Low-temperature treatment allows for the circular use of the chemicals. In addition, the scientists conclude that the method, patented in Poland, can also be used to extract these critical raw materials from other geological formations. 

“To mine rare earth elements from Europe is a key priority for the region. It would secure our supply of these critical minerals for the green transition and release us from our unhealthy dependency on conflict minerals. This new method for very effective extraction allows for exploration of European minerals deposits, such as our project in Fetsjön”, said Roberto García Martínez, CEO of Eurobattery Minerals. 

The research project Eurobattery Minerals is supporting is conducted by Prof. Jaroslaw Majka at Uppsala University and Prof. Maciej Manecki at AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, supported by Ph. D. candidate Julia Sordyl representing both universities. The parties are investigating the opportunity for a large-scale pilot.

More information about the project: https://investors.eurobatteryminerals.com/en/press-releases/new-ground-breaking-method-allows-nearly-100-recovery-of-rees-in-fetsjoen/.