Benefication and chemical processing of lithium minerals

Project completed in two stages by Future Battery Industries CRC which receives allocation of MRIWA funds.

The Challenge

Lithium is produced by a small number of suppliers, with companies exporting the lithium minerals mainly as concentrate, achieving limited profit margins. Improved technology for the extraction of lithium minerals and refining of battery grade lithium chemicals and the development of integrated process technologies are necessary to enable the emerging battery manufacturing industry in Australia.

The Solution

The production of lower-cost battery-grade lithium chemicals in Australia will pave the way for their use as battery precursor ingredients in local production of electrode materials and electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries.

This requires improved process options for lithium extraction, recovery and purification; minimisation of energy consumption; achieving high extraction rate of lithium from lithium minerals; and processes to manage the waste streams that generate by-products.

Establishing value for the waste streams and development of downstream opportunities towards zero liquid discharge technologies are also targeted.

Proposed Benefit to WA

The improved technology will assist WA suppliers in meeting current challenges in processing, developing optimised and alternative processes, delivering tangible benefits to WA in the form of jobs and growth of local communities, at the same time lowering environmental impact.