Canadian mineral development company First Phosphate Corporation and American pigment producer Sun Chemical Corporation have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) based cathode active material (CAM) manufacture in North America.
The collaboration intends to develop intermediates used for the manufacture of LFP CAM for the growing North American battery market. The partnership will see First Phosphates material processed to produce iron phosphate at Sun Chemicals North American facilities. The manufacturing processes for co-precipitation-based cathode materials are similar to those used for the inorganic pigments Sun Chemical produces – so the partnership provides a natural fit.
Both companies plan to investigate the best sources of iron for the iron phosphate and LFP synthesis process with consideration of Sun Chemicals current manufacturing capabilities of iron oxide precursors and First Phosphate’s mining source recovery of magnetite.
