In Finland, Europe’s first complete lithium mine begins operation

Trucks loaded with crushed rock and ore made their way through a crater-like landscape in western Finland, the first place in Europe to house the entire cycle of lithium mining, from mine to refinery.

Lithium is critical for the manufacture of modern electronics and has become a strategic resource, with some comparing it to the role that oil played at the start of the 20th century.

With China accounting for a majority of world supplies at the moment, countries have raced to develop their own sources.

While there are lithium reserves in other European countries, like Portugal and the Czech Republic, the Finnish site is the first to have the entire production chain — from mine to concentrator and refinery — located within 43 kilometres, according to the CEO of the operating company, Hannu Hautala.

On a sunny day in late April, dust clouds hovered over the Syvajarvi open-pit mine in the small Finnish municipality of Kaustinen as spodumene ore – one per cent of which is made up…