IN LONDON: As Europe hunts for its clean energy future, a new kind of easter egg is being uncovered. This easter egg stretches far beyond a single region and into the entire continent itself.
From the hills of Portugal and Spain to emerging projects in the Czech Republic and Germany, Europe’s lithium belt is becoming part of a larger story that more are becoming aware of.
Once an outlier among the commodities, lithium sits at the centre of the energy transition, now classified as a critical mineral under the EU’s green energy transition.
Lithium, often referred to as ‘white gold’, powers the batteries behind electric vehicles, stabilises renewable energy systems, and underpins the continent’s broader decarbonisation goals.
The EU is highly dependent on lithium imports, as it produces less than 0.1% of the global lithium mine production and has very limited production of refined lithium for batteries, according to the European Union.
Despite relying heavily on imports, a wave of exploration and development is gaining momentum across the continent.
Like an easter basket slowly being filled, Europe’s lithium story is one of anticipation, urgency, and constraint. In the second part of Mining.com.au’s three-part feature series, this news service is looking at Europe’s lithium potential.
Cracking open Iberia
The European Commission reveals that the global demand for raw materials, including nickel, graphite, and lithium is projected to increase in 2040 by 20, 19, and 14 times, respectively, compared to 2020.
According to the EU, lithium demand is forecast to reach 58,000 tonnes per year in 2030.
Selected projects across the continent will help the EU overachieve its 2030 benchmarks along the supply chain.
Antonio Bañon, legal director at Squire Patton Boggs, tells Mining.com.au that the Critical Raw Materials Act identified certain projects to contribute to the EU’s strategy.
“Seven of them are in Spain in particular. And around batteries, seven of them are lithium – at least one-third is in the Iberian Peninsular, and five of them are in France, just focused on lithium,” Bañon says.
“There is a lot of battery market development in Italy, there is a lot in Spain. Obviously, the UK is way advanced in this type of market, but it’s an evolving market.”
Portugal is currently Europe’s leading producer, while Spain continues to advance large-scale projects. According to MINEX, mine production in Portugal increased by 2.10% in December 2024 compared to the previous year.
The country’s non-ferrous metal ore mining industry had a market size of €580.1 million in 2024, ranking eighth in Europe for revenue.
With around 60,000 tonnes of proved reserves, Portugal is Europe’s leading lithium producer. That being said, several projects are underway including Savannah Resources’ (LSE:SAV) Barroso Lithium Project and Lusorecursos’ Romano Lithium Mine in Montalegre, northern Portugal.
Savannah’s Barroso Project has a resource of 39 million tonnes @ 1.05% lithium oxide for 411,900 tonnes across five orebodies.
The company recently announced it expects to complete a Definitive Feasibility Study and environmental licence compliance process in July 2026 for the project. Upon completion, a final investment decision will be reached by the end of 2026, as previously reported.
Meanwhile, Lusorecursos intends to produce lithium hydroxide monohydrate from petalite and spodumene concentrates which come from the extraction and beneficiation of the pegmatite rocks of the Romano Mine.
The company is planning to mine the Romano Mine in two stages using different methodologies. During the first stage, open-pit exploitation will take place by cutting to the surface to a depth of 40m. At a later stage, the exploitation will take place underground.
A Spanish basket of eggs
Right next door in Spain is Infinity Lithium’s (ASX:INF) San José Project which is a fully integrated lithium extraction and conversion asset.
San José is progressing through its direct exploitation concession application, with the regional government of Extremadura as it works toward final permitting for the project.
Using one of Europe’s largest lithium resources, San José is considered critical to achieving the continent’s ambitions to build its own lithium battery value chain as it continues to strive toward electrification.
As previously reported, Aguia Resources (ASX:AGR) non-Executive Chairman Warwick Grigor argued that there are parts of the world where there is a cultural divide when it comes to mining, in comparison to Australia.
“You’ve got to recognise and deal with what you’ve got. You try to open a mine in Spain or Portugal, I would never go to those countries. It’s too hard,” Grigor tells this news service.
“Spain’s just too hard. When you’ve got a country like Australia, and a lot of African countries, and our culture, they want to get things done.”
Grigor notes that in Spain and Portugal in particular, there have been many instances where projects “fail” for non-technical reasons.
“It’s for administrative reasons and cultural reasons – in France, Spain, and Portugal,” he says.
However, these challenges in Spain are starting to shift, as Bañon says that the current 1978 existing mining law in the country is starting to change.
“Right now, there is a new strategy around critical minerals from 2025 until 2029 that has recently been enacted by the ministry here in Spain,” Bañon says.
“The government is just reaching out, lets call it an open hearing, for different players of the sector to get some feedback from them so they can elaborate the first draft to that amendment of the existing law from 1978.
“So that’s an image of what Spain is doing as a consequence of the existing situation from the European Union policies.”
Hidden treasures in Central Europe
In Central Europe, the Czech Republic hosts what is considered to be one of the largest hard-rock lithium resources on the continent. European Metals’ (ASX:EMH) Cinovec deposit hosts a resource containing 708 million tonnes @ 0.42% lithium oxide for 7.39 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent.
At the current mining rate on the project’s Prefeasibility Study (PFS) of 2.25 million tonnes per year, this would give a mine life of in excess of 100 years.
Late last year, European Metals was awarded a €360 million grant for the development of the Cinovec Project to support up to 35% of eligible project costs.
The grant was awarded under the Czech Government’s Strategic Investments for a Climate-Neutral Economy program, designed to support investments in the production and expansion of equipment, key components, and critical raw materials essential for the energy transition.
In February 2026, European Metals received regional rezoning approval for Cinovec, allowing the company to advance the project toward a final investment decision.
Rezoning defines the project’s areas and corridors for lithium mining and processing, including corridors for necessary utility supply developments including water, electricity, and gas at all of the project’s sites.
It also defines the area for the storage and processing of materials from mining activities and the treatment of lithium concentrate at the Prunéřov processing plant site, as well as the planned tailings management facilities in the Doly Nastup Tušmice mining area.
European Lithium (ASX:EUR) is another example working to meet the needs of the EU’s lithium demand. The company’s Wolfsberg Project, located in Austria, is a hard-rock lithium deposit.
A 2018 Prefeasibility Study unveils Wolfsberg to have a pre-tax net present value of US$339.4 million with an internal rate of return of 25.6%. The project is expected to produce 10,129 tonnes of lithium hydroxide per year over a more than 10-year mine life.
Northern nest eggs
Meanwhile in northern Europe, Sibanye-Stillwater’s (NYSE:SBSW) Keliber Lithium Project in Finland, aims to develop a sustainable operation to produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide.
The European Commission has recognised the strategic significance of Keliber by granting it strategic project status under the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act. The project is expected to be the first integrated lithium operation in Europe, producing lithium hydroxide from its own mined ore reserves.
Sibanye-Stillwater estimates annual production to be around 15,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate – supplying the growing global lithium and battery markets for at least 18 years.
The shareholders of Keliber are Sibanye-Stillwater, which holds 79.82%, and Finnish Minerals Group, which holds 20%, and a group of Finnish shareholders with the remaining 0.18%.
As Europe’s easter basket begins to fill, the picture is clear that it is not scarcity, but rather urgency. The continent is not searching blindly for lithium as resources are known and projects are advancing.
Yet, much like an easter egg hunt, timing is everything and the challenge lies in how quickly these discoveries can be brought into development and production.
This Easter, Europe’s lithium story is not about what has been found, but what comes next.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Mining.com.au, Savannah Resources, Infinity Lithium & European Metals
