Lithium Mining in Europe: 10 Projects Ranked by Stage

Which lithium mines in Europe are operating, being built or stalled

As of late October 2026, Europe has no large lithium mine that sells battery-grade product at scale. The nearest to production is Keliber in Finland, where Sibanye-Stillwater began mining at its Syväjärvi deposit in February 2026 while the Kokkola refinery start depends on lithium market conditions (SMM News, 2026). Portugal is the only European country with recorded lithium mine output in the USGS table, at about 380 tonnes of contained lithium a year, and USGS does not say it is battery grade; lithium minerals from Portugal are used mainly in ceramics and glass (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026). Everything else on this page is a project: permitted but unfunded, funded but unbuilt, or under construction.

The table below ranks the main projects by how far along they are. “Stage” is what the owner or regulator has reported, not our opinion. Resource and reserve numbers are quoted on the basis the owner uses, and each one is dated in the project sections that follow.

Sources for each row are given in the sections below. If you want a company-by-company view rather than a project-by-project one, see our guide to European lithium mining companies and mines; this page keeps the focus on deposits, resources and EU status.

How much lithium does Europe hold

Europe’s lithium resources are real but small next to South America, Australia and China. The USGS estimates measured and indicated lithium resources at about 150 million tonnes worldwide, with Argentina at 28 million, Bolivia at 23 million and Chile at 13 million. Among European countries the same table gives Germany 8.9 million tonnes, Czechia 1.3 million, Serbia 1.2 million, France 1 million, Spain 320,000, Portugal 260,000, the United Kingdom 61,000, Austria 60,000 and Finland 55,000 (USGS, 2026). A resource is metal that may be mined one day; it is not the same as a reserve, which is the part a company has shown can be mined at a profit with current plans.

Chart

Measured and indicated lithium resources, selected European countries

Million tonnes of contained lithium

Much of Germany’s resource is thought to be brine under the Upper Rhine Valley, which is why geothermal projects matter so much there. Serbia’s is the Jadar basin. Note how thin Finland’s and Austria’s USGS numbers look next to the projects built on them: a project can be viable on a small, high-grade deposit, and grade matters as much as tonnes.

The European Commission expects EU lithium demand to rise twelve-fold by 2030 and twenty-one-fold by 2050 compared with today (European Commission, Critical Raw Materials Act). That gap between local supply and demand is the reason every project on this page is chasing public money and fast-track permits. For comparison with other regions, our posts on Nevada lithium mines and Western Australian lithium mines show what scale looks like in a producing region.

Hard-rock lithium projects in Europe, one by one

Hard-rock lithium means the metal is locked in minerals in solid rock, mostly spodumene (a lithium-aluminium silicate) in pegmatite veins, or lithium-bearing micas in granite. The rock is mined, crushed and concentrated; the concentrate is then sent to a chemical plant to make lithium hydroxide or carbonate. Grade is quoted as percent Li2O (lithium oxide). One tonne of Li2O equals about 2.47 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, written LCE. The chart below compares grades; the same spodumene concentrate can come from rock at 1% Li2O or 0.2% Li2O, but the lower grade means moving far more rock for each tonne.

Chart

Ore grade of selected European hard-rock projects

Kilograms of Li2O per tonne of ore (reserve unless stated)

Barroso, Portugal (Savannah Resources)

Barroso, near Boticas in northern Portugal, is described by its developer as Europe’s largest spodumene deposit. In its interim results for the six months to 30 June 2026, Savannah Resources reported a first JORC Probable Ore Reserve of 20.0 million tonnes at 0.99% Li2O, inside an updated Mineral Resource of 39.2 million tonnes at 1.05% Li2O. JORC is the Australasian reporting code that sets the rules for publishing resources and reserves (Savannah Resources, interim results 2026).

The Phase 1 definitive feasibility study (DFS) assumes 14 years of open-pit mining, a 1.5 million tonne-a-year plant and about 183,000 tonnes a year of 5.5% Li2O spodumene concentrate. The company reports a post-tax net present value (NPV, discounted at 8%) of US$913 million and an internal rate of return of 43%, at an average concentrate price of US$1,788 a tonne. Those are company model outputs, not guaranteed returns, and they depend on the price assumption. A non-reimbursable Portuguese State grant of up to EUR 110 million is part of the funding plan.

The gating item is the environmental licence. The company now expects to submit its RECAPE file (the post-assessment compliance report) in the fourth quarter of 2026, with a regulator decision expected in the first quarter of 2027, a final investment decision in early 2027 and first concentrate in late 2028. An earlier target had put first production in 2027, so the schedule has moved by roughly a year (MINING.COM, March 2025). Barroso is on the Commission’s 2025 strategic project list.

Keliber, Finland (Sibanye-Stillwater)

Keliber is the most advanced hard-rock lithium project in the EU, in the owner’s description. Sibanye-Stillwater owns 79.8%, the state-owned Finnish Minerals Group holds 20%, and other Finnish shareholders hold the rest. The plan links several small pegmatite deposits around Kaustinen to a concentrator at Päiväneva and a lithium hydroxide refinery at Kokkola, with a target of about 15,000 tonnes a year of battery-grade lithium hydroxide (Sibanye-Stillwater, March 2025).

The US Securities and Exchange Commission technical report summary, with an effective date of 31 December 2024, gives reserves for the Syväjärvi and Rapasaari deposits of 12.96 million tonnes at 0.97% Li2O on a 100% basis, and a life of about 20 years (Sibanye-Stillwater technical report summary, Keliber). Costs have risen: in its first-quarter 2025 report the company lifted the project estimate by 17% to EUR 783 million, citing regulatory changes, a larger scope and lower lithium prices (Mining Technology). Sibanye has said the refinery start will follow market conditions rather than a fixed date.

Wolfsberg, Austria (European Lithium and Critical Metals)

Wolfsberg is a spodumene pegmatite in Carinthia, in the eastern Alps. The owner calls it Europe’s first fully permitted mine. In November 2025 Austria’s Federal Administrative Court annulled the Carinthian decision that no environmental impact assessment was needed and sent the question back to the state; the company has appealed, and the final investment decision has slipped to at least the end of 2026 (Unterkärntner Nachrichten). The 2023 definitive feasibility study, announced by European Lithium on 8 March 2023, assumed about 8,800 tonnes a year of lithium hydroxide over 14.6 years, an ore reserve of 11.48 million tonnes grading 0.64% Li2O, estimated capital cost of US$866 million, a post-tax NPV of US$1.5 billion at a 6% discount rate and an IRR of 33.3% (European Lithium ASX announcement, 8 March 2023). Those figures date from 2023 and were modelled on lithium prices that were far higher than today’s, so treat them as a starting point rather than a current valuation.

Ownership has changed shape. In 2024, European Lithium combined its Wolfsberg interest with a US-listed shell to create Critical Metals Corp on Nasdaq (MINING.COM). On 27 October 2026 a scheme took effect under which Critical Metals acquires all of European Lithium, with 0.045 new Critical Metals shares per European Lithium share. New shares are expected to start trading on Nasdaq on 6 November 2026, when European Lithium is due to leave the ASX (Critical Metals release, 27 October 2026). After that date the Nasdaq quote (CRML) is the one to check. Wolfsberg is also not one of the seven lithium mining projects the Commission named in March 2025, and it was not added in the October 2026 round either, so it has no strategic status.

Cinovec, Czechia (Geomet)

Cinovec sits on the Czech side of the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) border with Germany. Lithium is hosted in zinnwaldite mica in granite. European Metals’ December 2025 DFS reports a Mineral Resource of 747.54 million tonnes at 0.40% Li2O (7.45 million tonnes LCE) and an Ore Reserve of 54.40 million tonnes at 0.58% Li2O, with a mine life above 26 years. The project is run through Geomet, a joint venture with the Czech utility CEZ (European Metals, Cinovec project overview). The environmental impact assessment was filed on 31 December 2025, the regional assembly approved the rezoning on 10 February 2026, and the Ministry of the Environment published the assessment in May 2026 with a public hearing to follow. Reports say the process should finish by the end of 2026. Cinovec is on the 2025 strategic project list.

Emili (Beauvoir), France (Imerys)

Emili is the lithium project at Beauvoir, near Échassières in the Allier department of central France. Imerys plans an underground mine and a conversion plant; the target output is about 34,000 tonnes a year of lithium hydroxide. A decree published in France’s official journal on 21 October 2026 granted Imerys the Beauvoir mining concession until 2075. French reporting puts the investment at about EUR 1.8 billion, says the state has already put in EUR 50 million through Banque des Territoires, and expects a final investment decision in 2027, with commercial production around 2030 (Automobile Propre, October 2026). Imerys still needs further authorisations before building. Emili is on the 2025 strategic list (Balkan Green Energy News).

Trelavour, United Kingdom (Cornish Lithium)

Cornish Lithium is the UK’s lead lithium developer. Its Trelavour project near St Austell starts at surface in a former china clay pit, which keeps stripping low. A September 2025 resource upgrade gave 88.5 million tonnes at 0.21% Li2O, equal to 454.5 thousand tonnes LCE, of which 63.0 million tonnes is Measured and Indicated (Global Mining Review, September 2025). That grade is about a fifth of Barroso’s reserve grade, which is why Cornish Lithium is building its own low-carbon processing route and testing it in a demonstration plant.

In September 2025 the company secured GBP 35 million of equity, with up to GBP 31 million from the UK’s National Wealth Fund and GBP 4 million from TechMet, to finish the Trelavour feasibility study and move its Cross Lanes geothermal lithium project towards commercial drilling (National Wealth Fund). The UK sits outside the EU, so the Critical Raw Materials Act does not apply to it, although the UK has its own critical minerals strategy.

Romano and Spain’s hard-rock projects

Portugal’s second strategic mining project is Romano, near Montalegre, promoted by Lusorecursos (Econews). Spain has two on the 2025 list: Las Navas, developed by Lithium Iberia, and Mina Doade, held by Recursos Minerales de Galicia, a subsidiary of SAMCA Group (Balkan Green Energy News). These are earlier-stage than Barroso or Keliber. Spain’s USGS resource figure is 320,000 tonnes.

Zinnwald, Germany (Zinnwald Lithium, AMG)

Zinnwald lies near Altenberg in Saxony, on the other side of the same Ore Mountains border as Cinovec. AMG Critical Materials, based in Amsterdam, agreed in May 2026 to buy the 71% of Zinnwald Lithium it did not own and completed the deal on 27 July 2026 (AMG). AMG says the next 18 to 24 months will be used to review and redefine the project scope. Zinnwald was the only new hard-rock lithium mine on the Commission’s second strategic list of 46 projects, published on 12 October 2026, and the plan includes a processing plant (Balkan Green Energy News, October 2026).

Geothermal lithium in Germany, France and the UK

Geothermal lithium takes the metal out of hot, salty water pumped from deep wells. Direct lithium extraction (DLE) uses a filter or sorbent to pull lithium from the brine; the water is then put back underground, and the heat can make power. There is no pit and no tailings dam, which is the main reason some regulators favour it, but the technology has few commercial references.

Vulcan Energy Resources is the front-runner. In its June 2026 quarter update, Vulcan reported financial close on its EUR 2.2 billion Lionheart Phase One project, the sixth production and re-injection well drilled, groundbreaking at its lithium chemicals plant in Frankfurt, and a five-year royalty exemption from the State of Rhineland-Palatinate. Closing cash was EUR 273.9 million at 30 June 2026 (The Motley Fool Australia, 29 July 2026). Further phases are planned at Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. The Commission’s lists include four geothermal lithium extraction projects in all, among them Vulcan’s, Eramet’s Alsace project in France, Lithium de France (an Arverne subsidiary) in northern Alsace and the Altmark project in Germany (Balkan Green Energy News).

In Cornwall, Cross Lanes is Cornish Lithium’s geothermal project near Chacewater. In August 2026 the company gave Halliburton the contract to drill and test two appraisal wells, partly funded by a GBP 7.2 million UK DRIVE35 grant; the results will feed its final investment decision (Global Mining Review, 25 August 2026). Geothermal brine is a second route to lithium in the same county as the Trelavour hard-rock deposit.

Jadar in Serbia: why the project is on hold

Jadar is a lithium-borate deposit in the Jadar basin of western Serbia, where the mineral is jadarite. Rio Tinto planned to start producing up to 58,000 tonnes a year of battery-grade lithium carbonate from 2026. Serbia revoked the spatial plan in January 2022 after large protests, the Constitutional Court ruled the revocation unlawful in July 2024, and a new decree allowed lithium mining again. In November 2025, an internal Rio Tinto memo placed the project in a dormant state, citing a lack of progress on permits and a wish to simplify its portfolio (electrive, 17 November 2025). The USGS puts Serbia’s measured and indicated lithium resource at 1.2 million tonnes, third among the countries listed above, after Germany and Czechia. Serbia is outside the EU, and the Commission named Jadar among the projects outside the EU in its strategic project process.

Where each project stands under the Critical Raw Materials Act

The Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) sets 2030 targets for the EU: 10% of annual consumption from EU extraction, 40% from EU processing and 25% from recycling. Projects designated as “strategic” get a single national contact point, shorter permit deadlines (27 months for extraction, 15 months for processing and recycling) and help finding finance and buyers (European Commission). Strategic status is not a licence and not a subsidy: promoters still have to secure finance and every permit.

The first list, adopted on 25 March 2025, had 47 projects in 13 member states; 18 involved battery-grade lithium, and seven of those were mines or mining-plus-processing: Barroso and Romano in Portugal, Las Navas and Doade in Spain, Cinovec in Czechia, Emili in France and Keliber in Finland (Balkan Green Energy News). The second round, announced on 12 October 2026, added 46 projects, bringing the total to 106. Seven were for battery-grade lithium; one hard-rock mine (Zinnwald) and two geothermal extraction projects. The Commission says 13 strategic projects for battery-grade lithium now involve extraction. The Commission says the full set of strategic projects could meet the 2030 extraction benchmark for lithium, but only if they are all built; the Commission notes that promoters must still raise finance and finish permitting. A new call for applications is due before the end of 2026.

▶ Remote sensing for mining explained in three minutes · 2:01

Why timelines slip: price, permits and public acceptance

Many European lithium projects have missed their first schedule. Three forces explain most of it.

Chart

US battery-grade lithium carbonate, annual average price

US dollars per tonne, real

Price. The USGS annual average price for battery-grade lithium carbonate in the United States was US$63,700 a tonne in 2022, US$11,800 in 2024 and US$9,000 in 2025 (estimated) (USGS, 2026). A fall of that size breaks financing models written in 2022 and 2023, which is why companies such as Savannah now publish studies with a conservative reserve price of US$1,200 a tonne of 6% Li2O spodumene concentrate. A lender looks at the downside case first.

Permits. Barroso’s licence process, Wolfsberg’s licence renewals, Cinovec’s environmental assessment and the Beauvoir concession are all multi-year paths. Strategic status shortens the clock but does not remove the legal steps.

Public acceptance. Jadar is the clearest case, but Barroso has faced long-standing local opposition (MINING.COM, March 2025) and Emili’s public debate raised water and post-mining concerns.

Estimate the lithium in a deposit before you read a press release

Company announcements quote tonnes of ore and percent Li2O. The calculator below converts those into tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent and a rough in-ground value at a price you choose. It is a screening tool: it ignores mining losses, dilution, processing costs and royalties, and the value it shows is not a project NPV. Try the Barroso reserve (20 million tonnes at 0.99%) or the Cinovec reserve (54.4 million tonnes at 0.58%) and compare.

What to check before backing a European lithium project

1. Reserve or resource? A reserve passed economic tests; a resource did not. Barroso’s 20.0 million tonne reserve is half its 39.2 million tonne resource.
2. Grade and strip ratio. Barroso’s average strip ratio is 5.2 tonnes of waste per tonne of ore. A low-grade deposit with a low strip ratio, such as Trelavour, can still work, but the processing route carries the risk.
3. Which price underlies the study? Compare the study’s concentrate or hydroxide price with the market on the day. Savannah’s DFS uses US$1,788 a tonne average, with a US$1,200 reserve price.
4. Permit status. Ask which permits are final, which are appealed and which are not yet filed. Strategic project status is not a permit.
5. Who pays? Check for financial close (Vulcan reached it in 2026), state grants (Barroso, up to EUR 110 million) and offtake agreements with battery makers.
6. Chemical plant location. Concentrate is cheap to ship; a hydroxide refinery is the expensive step. Keliber has one at Kokkola; Barroso plans to sell concentrate and has non-binding offtake heads of terms with AMG in Germany.
7. Corporate structure. Check which entity owns the licence and which is listed. Wolfsberg is an example where the listed vehicle has changed.

None of this is investment advice; use the company’s regulatory filings and, for listed firms, our own guide to evaluating lithium mining stocks. For a view of the global producers that these European projects compete with, see the largest lithium mining companies.

How satellite imagery helps screen lithium ground

Before drilling, an owner or buyer of a licence can use multispectral satellite data to map clay and mica alteration, outcrop, vegetation cover and old workings, and to rank ground by how well it matches known pegmatite or granite targets. That narrows where to put the first holes. It does not replace sampling, and satellite results are exploration targets, not a resource estimate. Our guide to global deposit maps shows how this kind of screening works at country scale.

▶ How satellite data is used to search for lithium, shown with a Nigerian case study · 10:49

Frequently asked questions

Is there any lithium mine in operation in Europe?

Portugal reports small production of about 380 tonnes of contained lithium a year (USGS, 2026). Keliber in Finland has started mining but had not reported battery-grade lithium hydroxide at the time of writing.

Which will be the first battery-grade lithium mine in the EU?

Keliber in Finland and Vulcan’s Lionheart in Germany are the nearest by construction progress. Wolfsberg in Austria still has an environmental screening and appeal to settle and lacks financing, and Barroso in Portugal is waiting for its environmental licence.

What is happening at Cornish Lithium?

Cornish Lithium raised GBP 35 million in 2025 to finish a feasibility study at Trelavour and drill Cross Lanes, where Halliburton won the contract in August 2026 to drill and test two appraisal wells. Its Trelavour resource was upgraded in September 2025 to 88.5 million tonnes at 0.21% Li2O.

What is the Wolfsberg lithium project?

A spodumene pegmatite in Carinthia, Austria, with a 2023 feasibility study for about 8,800 tonnes a year of lithium hydroxide. It is held through European Lithium and the Critical Metals group.

Where is the Jadar lithium project, and is it going ahead?

In western Serbia. An internal Rio Tinto memo put it into a dormant state in November 2025 after permits stalled.

What does “strategic project” mean for a European lithium mine?

It means priority handling under the Critical Raw Materials Act: a single contact point, shorter permit deadlines and help with finance. It does not guarantee a licence or funding.

How many lithium projects are on the EU strategic list?

After the October 2026 round, 13 strategic projects involve battery-grade lithium extraction and the Commission’s lists also include projects for processing and recycling.

Is European Lithium the same as Critical Metals?

Not for long. Critical Metals Corp (Nasdaq: CRML) holds Wolfsberg. A scheme under which Critical Metals acquires European Lithium (ASX: EUR) became effective on 27 October 2026; European Lithium is due to leave the ASX on 6 November 2026. Check live quotes for any share price.

Who owns the Zinnwald lithium project in Germany?

Zinnwald is a granite-hosted lithium deposit near Altenberg, Saxony, now owned by AMG Critical Materials, and a strategic project in the October 2026 round.

Does Europe have enough lithium to meet its own demand?

The Commission’s modelling says the full set of strategic projects could meet the 2030 extraction benchmark of 10% of EU consumption, provided they are all financed, permitted and built.