Lithium Australia NL Sustainability and Battery Recycling Strategy
Process Grade (% Li20)
The LieNAⓇ process
Raw material
Li chemicals
Lithium
Australia
NL
Recycling
Batteries
IMPROVING SUSTAINABILITY, INCREASING LITHIUM RESERVES
Spodumene concentrate producers urgently need to enhance their process recovery. Improving spodumene
recovery to concentrate from existing levels (between 55% and 75%) by relaxing concentrate particle size
and grade targets could extend mine life by 50% with little additional operating cost. This would greatly
improve resource utilisation, reduce costs and, importantly, relieve pressure on the environment.
3.0
Achieved recovery rate
Zone of reality?
Design recovery rate
45
2.5
2.0
20
1.5
1.0
10
55
50
Zone of fantasy?
The
LieNA®
sweet spot
0.5
50
55
60
65
70
75 80
85
Process Plant Recovery (%)
90
The Company has been awarded federal
government grant, through its Co-operative
Research Centres - Projects (i.e. CRC-P)
programme, to build and operate a LieNAⓇ pilot
plant at ANSTO.
INDUSTRY IMPLICATIONS
In WA, spodumene concentrate production will
soon eclipse 5 Mtpa, meaning that, notionally,
2-3 Mtpa of spodumene fines could be available
to process via LieNAⓇ, producing up to twice the
amount of lithium chemicals currently consumed
globally!
Producers of spodumene concentrate and
lithium chemicals are already expressing
significant interest in the LieNAⓇ process.
23
August 2020
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