Neo Lithium has produced battery-grade lithium carbonate at its pilot plant in Fiambalá, Argentina.
Using concentrated brine, lithium carbonate was produced at 99.599% purity using a process the company says may decrease operational and capital costs while minimising reagent, water and power consumption.
The carbonate was produced from brine at the firm’s wholly-owned Tres Quebradas lithium project (“3Q Project”) in Catamarca Province, Argentina.
The brine was evaporated at the company’s industrial-scale ponds at the same location under similar conditions as production-scale.
No chemical reagents were added to the brine other than minor amounts of hydrochloric acid (HCl) for pH control at the final stage of evaporation.
Two different processes were tested to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate at the pilot plant.
The first process used solvent extraction phase (SX-B) for boron removal, a sulfation phase for calcium removal using sodium sulfate and a liming and carbonation phase to remove magnesium and any remaining calcium. The lithium carbonate process is then completed with 3 stages of: soda ash carbonation, washing and drying.
The company’s second process changed the sulfation phase for calcium removal by an acidification phase with sodium hydroxide. The remainder of lithium carbonate process is then completed similar to the first process.
The result of both processes produced lithium carbonate with a purity of 99.535%.
“We continue to improve and optimise our process with a team of outstanding chemists and technicians” stated Waldo Perez, president and CEO of Neo Lithium.
“We not only proved that we can produce battery grade lithium carbonate with our known process, but also optimised and improved the purity of the lithium carbonate with a high potential to lower costs. We will continue to optimise and fine tune the process as we work towards a DFS.”