WWW.RESOURCEGLOBALNETWORK.COM
LITHIUM | Lepidico
Resource Global Network
LEPIDICO A new source of lithium for the global battery market
LITHIUM | Lepidico
Demand for basic materials and commodities that are crucial components in lithium-ion batteries have skyrocketed in recent years and will remain on an upward trajectory for the foreseeable future, based on numerous sweeping projections regarding the electrification of the global energy and automotive markets. However, the lithium industry is facing the prospect of a supply deficit, with many new producers scrambling to convert raw lithium into a usable end product for the battery manufacturing market. While conventional sources of lithium from brine sites in South America and spodumene hubs in Australia and Canada are currently well-poised to handle the predicted uptick in demand in the near term, a bottleneck dynamic is emerging from a lag in downstream facilities coming online and in the long term substantial sources of new supply will be required to meet anticipated burgeoning demand.
L-Max® technology L-Max® is designed to treat lithium-rich mica and phosphate mineral concentrates, using simple but highly effective leach and impurity removal processes. With only a handful of companies exploring for such unconventional sources of lithium, Lepidico’s L-Max® has the potential to be a disruptive force within the battery grade lithium production space, by bringing a new source of low cost lithium chemical to the market. The main reagent used in the L-Max° process is sulphuric acid, a common waste product from base metal smelting operations that often needs to be transported significant distances to find a market. However, Lepidico’s technology is set to put this waste chemical to good use through L-Max®, which the Australian patent office, IP Australia, has identified as a novel, inventive and industry applicable process. “From an environmental perspective the L-Max® process can be considered as a sulphuric acid sink that allows a hazardous waste product, when combined with the lithium mica feed source to be converted into a suite of valuable products,” says Lepidico’s managing director Joe Walsh.
Entering this bubbling cauldron is Lepidico,
“Crucially, it’s not just about lithium
championing its patent registered L-Max®
carbonate or lithium chemicals here,” he
process technology that successfully treats
continues. “The other advantage with L-Max®
previously overlooked lithium mica minerals
is that it produces eco-friendly by-products
into battery grade lithium chemical and a
and relatively modest quantities of benign
suite of valuable by-products.
waste.”
Resource Global Network
LITHIUM | Lepidico
For instance, one of the by-products of
presents Lepidico with an exciting
the process is sodium silicate, which has
opportunity to offset operating costs
a huge variety of manufacturing uses and
associated with production, to the point
could alone represent nearly half of overall
where its process can be considered a
potential revenue for Lepidico, according to
zero-C1 cost method of producing lithium
Walsh.
carbonate.
This potential to make significant additional
As outlined in the Phase 1 L-MaxÂŽ plant pre-
revenue from by-products is an important
feasibility study completed last year, for a
part of the processes economics and
capex of US$40-45 million the 30,000 tonnes
Resource Global Network The Phase 1 feasibility identified up to 50,000tpa of sodium silicate at $690 a tonne, along with other by-products that could include sulphate of potash (3,0004,000tpa at $600 a tonne), as well as caesium and tantalite, the quantities of which vary depending on the feed source. Subsequently sodium sulphate has been identified as a further by-product, albeit of lower value. “Our process is conducted at atmospheric pressure and at modest temperature. The maximum temperature employed is just over 100 Celsius. Furthermore, the process is not power intensive, and employs common use industrial reagents and equipment, which make for straightforward occupational health and safety requirements.” This is where the strategic location of the Phase 1 plant, close to abundant, affordable sources of sulphuric acid, becomes important in terms of the low cost nature of the project and is why the company is looking at building its first plant in the longstanding mining town of Sudbury, in the Canadian province of Ontario. per annum (tpa) capacity plant will produce
There are two large nickel smelters in
2,500-3,000tpa of battery grade lithium
Sudbury which produce large quantities
carbonate equivalent (LCE), at an average
of sulphuric acid for export, with Lepidico
cash cost of nil after by-products are taken
almost certainly set to become the largest
into account.
local consumer of that acid.
“On a C1 cost basis, the pre-feasibility
The case for Sudbury is strengthened
study identified that the by-products have
by its well-established infrastructure
the potential to offset all operating costs,”
networks, including power, water, gas and
confirms Walsh.
rail, experienced industrial workforce, and
Building on its successful partnership with Lepidico, Lycopodium is delivering innovative and cutting edge lithium processing technology.
5000+ Studies 300+ Projects
W: www.lycopodium.com.au E: minerals@lycopodium.com.au
+25 Years Experience 55+ Countries
Resource Global Network
an abundance of mining related services.
mica deposits, including one with private
Sudbury is also close to active markets for
Portuguese firm Grupo Mota.
its L-Max® by-products, with the wider Great Lakes region providing a depth of market for
Under the existing ore offtake agreement
sodium silicate and potential new markets for
with Grupo Mota, lepidolite ore from the
this co-product.
Alvarroes mine in Portugal is planned to
Two-pronged Strategy
be concentrated and shipped to Canada for processing by L-Max®. “We are working
Lepidico is looking to combine a fully-
closely with Grupo Mota on furthering
integrated business model with a
this arrangement and late last year we
downstream business that will see the
announced the first mineral resource
company bring in third party feeds while
estimate for that deposit,” says Walsh.
building a global portfolio of quality lepidolite deposits.
“While modest in size at about 1.5Mt, the key here is that we don’t need a lot of tonnes to
However, owing to the rudimentary nature of
support an L-Max® plant, with this resource
lithium mica exploration and extraction, the
sufficient to provide more than 10 years feed
company has found itself poring over several
to our planned phase 1 plant in Sudbury.”
early stage lepidolite occurrences. Having said that, Lepidico has made a number of
Elsewhere, Lepidico has entered into
arrangements with the owners of lithium
arrangements over various lepidolite
LITHIUM | Lepidico
Australian Resource Business Global Network projects in Canada and Western Australia,
Aside from the potential to open up new
where drilling programmes have recently
revenue streams from hard rock lithium
commenced on the latter projects.
sources, the deal with Galaxy provided further strong validation of Lepidico’s method
Tailings retreatment represents another limb
and strategy from a major global player in the
of the upstream model. Lepidico recently
lithium space and one who’s current market
completed a successful test work programme
capitalisation stands at around $1.4 billion.
on tailings samples from the Mt Cattlin mine in Western Australia, a spodumene operation
“For any lithium development company, the
owned by Galaxy Resources, a major
backing of an incumbent industry participant
producer in the lithium sector.
provides a stamp of credibility and is a massive endorsement of the underlying
The results revealed that the L-Max® process was able to deliver attractive process
business strategy,” declares Walsh.
lithium carbonate grading of 99.8% LCE
Changing supply and demand dynamics
from lepidolite contained in the Mt Cattlin
Returning to the forces shaping the current
tailings, an impressive result for the following
dynamics in the global lithium space, demand
reasons.
for the light metal has been on a steady
recoveries of over 90% while producing
growth curve over the past decade, driven “This really demonstrates the flexibility of
by increased portable technology usage and
L-Max®. It has the capability to economically
production of devices that require lithium-ion
extract lithium chemicals from tailings
batteries.
containing relatively modest quantities of lithium-mica.
In fact, between 2006 and 2016 lithium-ion battery demand went from 10GW to nearly
“Lepidico provides a significant value-
100GW, according to metals consultancy
add opportunity for existing spodumene
Roskill. But, only in the last five years have
operations that are processing ores that
EVs emerged into the picture, with this
also contain lithium-mica and phosphate
disruptive industry set to propel lithium
minerals.
demand to new heights if current adoption projections are taken as gospel.
“Furthermore, in the case of former operating mines there may be potential to reprocess
“EVs are coming off a low base,” admits
tailings and waste dumps, which could
Walsh.
provide an environmental remediation opportunity on such sites.”
“However growth in market share is significant. More importantly though, we
78
LITHIUM | Lepidico
are seeing – around the developed world
around 3,000tpa LCE, but Lepidico expects
and particularly in China – huge government
to have additional installed capacity in the
incentives to encourage EV adoption.
plant’s major capital equipment that could allow it to be efficiently expanded to 5,000-
“I think it’s going to be those initiatives that
6,000tpa LCE, although this is still quite small
are really going to underpin broad based,
given the overall market for lithium chemicals
rapid EV adoption. Particularly for urban
is currently around 200,000tpa.
usage, EVs are a very compelling mode of transport.”
However, a full-scale L-Max® plant, which will be evaluated to succeed the Phase 1
Operating on the supply side of this major
plant in the early 2020s, is expected to be
growth industry is where Lepidico hopes
considerably larger at around 20,000tpa
to thrive. At this stage, the Phase 1 plant
LCE. This would make Lepidico a globally
is about proving commercial viability of
significant producer of battery grade lithium
L-Max®, after proving the technical capability
for an industry that could well grow to a size
of the process on a continuous basis at lab
of 500,000tpa LCE by this time.
scale. “The industry is going to need numerous The Phase 1 plant has nominal capacity of
projects of this size to be able to satisfy the
Resource Global Network
current projections for demand growth,”
has tremendous support from the province
predicts Walsh.
of Ontario and the city of Sudbury for its Phase 1 plant initiative.
“What’s going to be most important however, is thanks to our substantial by-product
In the long term, Lepidico will look to fast-
credits and also to the relatively low cost
track the full-sale plant into operation during
reagents, Lepidico should sit in the lower part
the early 2020s, at which point it would
of the global cost curve, making it a robust
become a globally significant, vertically
producer throughout a price cycle.”
integrated lithium chemical producer.
Lepidico’s short-term aim is to get the Phase
Beyond this horizon, the company is also
1 L-Max® plant into operation by 2020,
looking to establish replica plants in other key
with the securing of all relevant permits
markets such as Europe and Asia.
and approvals being the next hurdles to overcome. Walsh assures that the company
b
Published by Anderson Murray Media Ltd
To tell the resource market your story, contact: editorial@resourceglobalnetwork.com
WWW.RESOURCEGLOBALNETWORK.COM