EUROPE will struggle to secure domestic supplies of vital battery mineral lithium due to permit delays and local opposition to projects, driving prices higher, Sibanye Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman said. Prices for battery-grade lithium have declined but remain at historically high levels and the market is forecast to move to mounting deficits from 2025 onwards, according to SFA Oxford analysts. Permitting problems and opposition by local groups had derailed a project in Serbia and jeopardised projects in Portugal and Spain, SFA Oxford analysts told a briefing. Diversified miner Sibanye is developing its 80% owned Keliber lithium project in Finland at an…